Elijah Wood in 'The Hobbit': How would that work?

Published on January 7, 2011 12:00PM EST

It's official: EW has confirmed that Elijah Wood will reprise his role as Frodo Baggins in the upcoming bigscreen version of The Hobbit. If you're a J.R.R. Tolkien fan, the initial response is probably: "How?" For one thing, Frodo doesn't appear in The Hobbit novel, for a very good reason: It takes place sixty years before the events in Lord of the Rings, before Frodo was even born. Well, official Rings and Hobbit fansite TheOneRing.net has an answer (SPOILER ALERT): Frodo will appear in the opening sequence of both Hobbit films, as part of a narrative framing device. Remember that part near the end of The Return of the King when Frodo is writing the story of the War of the Ring inside a book? The first part of that book he's writing in contains a memoir by his uncle, Bilbo Baggins, which tells the story of Bilbo's own great adventure. Apparently, Frodo will be reading Bilbo's tale, and that will be the entryway into the proper story of The Hobbit. So don't expect to see Frodo hanging out at the Battle of Five Armies or anything.

As TheOneRing points out, this is far from the first time that Jackson has amended Tolkien's text. (Just ask Tom Bombadil fans.) Still, bringing in Frodo definitely marks a pretty significant structural shift from Tolkien's original novel. PopWatchers, are you excited to see Elijah Wood put on the hairy feet again? Any other LOTR cast members you'd like to see make the jump? (Technically, Sean Astin's Sam could pop in during that framing sequence, too…)

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