Stephen Colbert Will Make A Cameo In THE HOBBIT; Plus Rumor Of A Longer Running Time

According to The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, will be making an appearance in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy, but not the first film. The site had no additional information, so at this time we're not sure how significant of a role the comedian/actor will have. Colbert is a huge fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Rings. A safe assumption is that he is playing an elf since he is fluent in Elvish, no lie.

While a Russian website,Henneth-Annun, is reporting that the running time for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is actually 2 hours and 50 minutes, not 2 hours 44 minutes as previously reported. As for now just chalk that up as a rumor.

Hobbit is longer! Apparently, PJ is now in the last stages of editing rough first series of "The Hobbit". If the previous length, we obtained exclusively through distributors, was only 164 minutes, then the new figure, obtained from him today - impressive epic.

New length of "The Hobbit: Unexpected Journey - 170 minutes.

The Hobbit is an upcoming two-part epic fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the 1937 novel of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien and prequel to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings, returns as director of the film and also serves as producer and co-writer. The film will star Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage, known for playing Lucas North in the BBC drama series Spooks, as Thorin Oakenshield. Several actors from Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy will reprise their roles, including Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, and Orlando Bloom. Additionally, composer Howard Shore, who wrote the score for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, has confirmed his role in both parts of the film project. The two parts, entitled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again, are being filmed back to back and are currently in production in New Zealand; principal photography began on March 21, 2011. They are scheduled to be released on December 14, 2012 and December 13, 2013, respectively.