[Mithalwen]

I really would be suprised if they include Beorn now it is effectively going to be "The Quest of Erebor" - eg a grown up version more like Gandalf's version in UT, and having to have the same "landscape" as LOTR. I can't see performing animals fitting in ... . The trolls may be also a problem given the precedent set by the cave troll in Moria.

While part of me wishes Tolkien had written a full version of the Quest of Erebor and I seldom now pick up theHobbit other than to check a reference (in my chaotic home it is the only Tolkien book I wouldn't be able to locate instantly - the rest of them are like a galactic hitchhiker's towel - I always know where they are!). The fact is that The Hobbit really comes alive when it is read as it was written as a bed time story for children and I think it is sad that it won't now really be a children's film.