The Hobbit (film series) was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before his departure from the project. The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth sixty years before the beginning of "The Lord of the Rings", and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). The films also expand upon certain elements from the novel and
Frodo Baggins Bilbo in the same company's adaptation of "The Hobbit". In the 1981 BBC radio serial of "The Lord of the Rings", Frodo is played by Ian Holm, who later played Bilbo in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings". In the 1993 television miniseries "Hobitit" by Finnish broadcaster Yle, Frodo is played by Taneli Mäkelä. In "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy (2001-2003) directed by Peter Jackson, Frodo is played by American actor Elijah Wood. Dan Timmons writes in the Mythopoeic Society's "Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings" (Mythopoeic Press,