The Hobbit (film series) as saying, "Despite the various rumours and speculation surrounding this role, there has only ever been one Bilbo Baggins for us. There are a few times in your career when you come across an actor who you know was born to play a role, but that was the case as soon as I met Martin Freeman. He is intelligent, funny, surprising and brave—exactly like Bilbo and I feel incredibly proud to be able to announce that he is our Hobbit." Later in October, it was revealed that several other cast members had joined the project, including Richard Armitage as Thorin
The History of The Hobbit Hobbit", the task was given to Taum Santoski in the 1980s. Santoski had connections to the Marquette collection of Tolkien material, which is where the original manuscripts reside. He died in 1991, and ultimately the task passed to John Rateliff. Although Christopher Tolkien did not work directly on "The History of The Hobbit", the work is in a very similar vein to the "literary archaeology" of his "History of Middle-earth". Rateliff submitted a finished draft of the book to Christopher Tolkien, who, approving of the work, gave "The History of The Hobbit" his personal blessing to be published in association