Benedict Cumberbatch Confirmed Voice of Smaug and Luke Evans Cast as Bard in ‘The Hobbit’

Luke Evans

Benedict Cumberbatch

Two Hobbit casting rumors were laid to rest today as it was announced by Deadline New York that Luke Evans was cast as Bard the Grim and Benedict Cumberbatch is to be the voice of Smaug the dragon. It was just last month Martin Freeman (cast as Bilbo Baggins) let it slip that his Sherlock co-star, Benedict Cumberbatch, had been cast but keep his exact role under raps sending all kinds of rumors flying. With Luke Evans filling the role of Bard we might not be seeing much of him until the seconded instalment, The Hobbit: There and Back Again (in theaters on December 13th, 1213), as Bard the Grim has a bigger role towards the end of the story.

Middle-earth News wants to know what you think of this latest news. Are you excited about The Hobbit’s new cast members?

John Rhys-Davies Goes Geek Over 48 Frames And Expresses Wish To Join Hobbit Cast

John Rhys-Davies (Gilmi the Dwarf and the voice of Treebeard in LOTR), was among the other stars to gain press this week. In an interview with  STV’s The Hour he stated, “Jackson is actually going to change the way films are made. It’s really a paradigm change. Just shooting at 48 frames for instance, I’m sorry if this is all technical boring stuff but we who are in the business really love this. Films are never going to be the same after this film comes out. ‘The Hobbit’ is not as profound a film as ‘Lord of the Rings’, but it is so loved.”

It was a visit to the set of The Hobbit, when Davis realized how much he wanted to be a part of the film. He told Belfast Telegraph “It was a very strange feeling going back and seeing so many old faces... Seeing Ian McKellen and young [Andy Serkis] Gollum...It was like going back to your old school where you were being a person of real importance and they treated you courteously, but you're no longer part of it. It really plucks the heart strings. So I grovelled as obsequiously as I could, to no avail, but Peter's a very merciful chap... Let's put it this way. I have been sending pushy, grovelling signals.”

Those Pesky Hobbit Casting Rumors Answered!

Saoirse Ronan

Take in a sigh of relief because those annoying and all too frequent Saoirse Ronan rumors have officially been laid to rest. The Irish actress admitted today that "It's probably not going to work out with ‘The Hobbit’ unfortunately... I would have been working for about a year on it and there were other projects that I was very interested in, but Pete and Fran have been very good about it and very understanding.” As far as visiting the set she stated, "I'll have to just go back down to New Zealand for a holiday and hang out with the hobbits."

Lee Pace

Dean O'Gorman

Other casting news broke last week after The Hobbit suddenly lost Robert Kazinsky who had been cast as Fili the Dwarf. Fans had been eager to hear who would replace him and the announcement came April 30th that Kiwi actor Dean O’Gorman would fill the gap, and play Fili, along with the unexpected news that Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) has been cast as the Elven-King Thranduil, ending all David Tennant rumors. Meanwhile Hugo Weaving fans got a treat when Peter Jackson posted a picture of them both on the set of The Hobbit, and within a short time it was announced that he will be reclaiming his roll as Elrond for the film.