UPDATE: Yup, it was horseshit. Maguire talked to the Hollywood Reporter, and he said Latino Review’s source “was not accurate at all.” He says he’d be theoretically up for the role, but no one’s asked him. Another victory for shitty internet journalism!
We reported yesterday that, fresh from his career-best performance in Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers,” Tobey Maguire was set to produce and star in “Prisoners of Trebek,” about a “Jeopardy” contestant who falls in love. A rumor hit the internet last night, however, that suggests that something bigger might be in the offing before this: Latino Review report that the “Spider-Man” star is in talks to play the lead role of Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit.”
The site reports that the actor was asked, during press junkets for “Brothers,” which director he’d most like to work with, and responded “Guillermo Del Toro. We may have something here in the near future.” They then claim to have contacted “agency sources,” who suggest that that “something” is in fact the lead role in Del Toro’s “Lord of the Rings” prequel. Now, Latino Review have a fairly strong track record in breaking big scoops — they were the first to break the story of Heath Ledger appearing in “The Dark Knight,” for instance, however, they report as much nonsense as they report breaking news these days. And nevertheless, we don’t buy this one for a second.
Principally, the start date for “Spider-Man 4,” which is set this coming March, is only a few months before that of “The Hobbit,” and both are likely to be lengthy shoots — “Spider-Man” will be close to six months, and “The Hobbit” likely to be over a year. Even if the former were set to film a year from now, as Latino Review incorrectly claim, the Tolkien shoot would still be going on — Maguire is signed and sealed to reprise his role as Peter Parker, and there’s a flat-out scheduling conflict here.
Furthermore, the story’s already been debunked by fansite The One Ring (who had Del Toro posting on the message boards just a couple of days ago, so are fairly well connected…). Not to add to the pile-on, but, from what we know of the casting sessions, Maguire is significantly older than most of the actors being seriously looked at — who are, for the most part, near-unknowns. It’s possible that the story is a result of crossed wires — Maguire may have had a general meeting with Del Toro, or discussed another project, which was then misinterpreted by “agency sources” — but we will eat a shoe, Werner Herzog-style, if this turns out to be correct.