After months of assuming that stars Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis would be returning for Peter Jackson‘s two-part adaptation of The Hobbit, but wondering just what was taking so long to officially lock them up, it’s been finally announced that the two actors will definitely be reprising their roles.

McKellen was Academy Award nominated for his work as Gandalf in Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Serkis should have gotten an Oscar nomination for his performance capture work as Gollum — both of which are important characters in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s first adventure in that world, The Hobbit. We’ve already heard of plenty of LOTR characters who weren’t part of The Hobbit but were being used anyway, so many worried where these two all-crucial actors were and why their casting was delayed.

Now that McKellen and Serkis are confirmed, all seems to be in place for the most part. There’s still casting to be done and work to complete before filming can ensue, but it looks like all systems are go for the planned February 14 start date.

Just a few days ago we found out that after so many complications, the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s fabled tale, The Hobbit, had finally received a greenlight by studios, and that Peter Jackson would indeed be returning to direct the two-part film.

At the same time, we heard that one of the front runners for the hotly pursued lead role of Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman, was ever so close to nabbing the job. This little dream casting for many is now officially a reality as Jackson has announced a chunk of castings for his film, including the confirmation of Mr. Freeman as Bilbo.

Freeman was one of what seemed to be three top fan choices along with James McAvoy and Doctor Who‘s David Tennant. The actor hasn’t done a ton of stuff to gain recognition here in the States, but you may best recognize him as the lead in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. He also was on the original UK version of The Office, and had small roles in Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Love, Actually.

Just a quicky catch-up: X-Men: First Class is a comic book series that’s currently being adapted into a new movie.

It was at first going to be directed by the godfather of X-Men film, Bryan Singer, but he stepped away to do something else (but will still produce and will return for another mutant project in the future). We then found out that Kick-Ass and Stardust director Matthew Vaughn had been brought in to replace him, and all was well again. All that was left was to tell us who would be stepping into the younger iconic main roles that we’d become so familiar with over the past decade.

Now comes reports that the first star has been cast, and it’s a real doozy. James McAvoy, who’s best known from his roles in Wanted, Atonement, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, has been cast in the role of Professor Xavier….or Professor X, to some preferences.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy was released this week on iTunes as a digital download. In conjunction with this event, we here at Geeks of Doom have a Lord Of The Rings prize pack with some real cool goodies to give away to one (1) lucky reader!

One (1) winner will receive:

• One (1) The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Original Theatrical Poster
• One (1) LOTR Playing Cards
• One (1) LOTR Bookmarks
• One (1) LOTR Necklace
• One (1) LOTR Jade necklace from New Zealand

The digital version is available now for only $19.99 at iTunes [note, link opens up iTunes application].

TO ENTER: There’s just two simple steps:

(1) Make sure you’re subscribed to the Geeks of Doom email digest. If you’re not then click here and sign up. (If you’re already a subscriber, then go right to the next step.)

(2) Fill out the entry form here below and submit. (Form is here after the jump.)

Good luck!

According to Ian McKellen‘s official website, director Guillermo del Toro is getting ready to begin filming his epic two-part adaptation of The Hobbit in July.

McKellen, who is set to return to his role of the powerful wizard Gandalf, says that casting has begun in many different parts of the world and del Toro is now living in New Zealand near producer Peter Jackson and the studio where the movies are set to film. The Hobbit is of course based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, and is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy that Jackson turned into a massively-successful set of films in early this past decade.