Merrick here...
Yesterday, The Sun ran an article saying that Martin Freeman (THE OFFICE) had been offered the coveted Bilbo Baggins role in THE HOBBIT movie. The Sun said he'd declined said offer, and the substantive paycheck that might've accompanied it, because he was committed to shooting more installments of SHERLOCK for BBC (SHERLOCK being the smart modernization of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes character from current DOCTOR WHO overlord Steven Moffat - Freeman plays Dr. John Watson).
EW is saying that The Sun's information was correct - but has added an intriguing new twist to the casting saga:
according to sources close to the Hobbit production, it’s not over yet. New Line and MGM, the studios backing the Hobbit films, have since come back to Freeman with a proposed schedule that would allow him to shoot both projects. All parties are currently negotiating a deal.
...says THIS snippet over at EW.
Obviously, the ultra-awesome Ian Holm previously portrayed Bilbo in Peter Jackson's (subsequently set) LORD OF THE RINGS films - this admittedly crude side-by-side comparison of Freeman (l) and Holm (r) suggests a strong resemblance, thus a not-terribly-surprising continuity.
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