Billy Connolly is best known for films like
The Boondock Saints,
The Last Samurai, and most recently
The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Check out the announcement below:
Billy Connolly is joining the cast of Tolkien's epic "The Hobbit."
The announcement was made today by Peter Jackson, who is currently in production on "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and "The Hobbit: There and Back Again," with the films shooting back-to-back in New Zealand.
In the films, Connolly ("The Last Samurai," "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events") will play Dain Ironfoot, a great dwarf warrior and cousin of Thorin Oakenshield. Peter Jackson welcomed the news of Connolly to Middle-earth: "We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connelly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of "The Hobbit" is now complete. We can't wait to see him on the Battlefield!
First film titled
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14, 2012, and the second film,
The Hobbit: There and Back Again is set for December 13, 2013 release.
The ensemble cast includes Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee and Cate Blanchett.