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James McAvoy is set to play Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.
Film bosses are rumoured to be close to signing McAvoy who played the faun Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe to play the fantasy hero in the big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's book.
An insider said: "A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film's bosses really want. They're expected to have talks with him soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future."
Director Guillermo del Toro has refused to comment on the rumours, only saying: "I can tell you it's down to a few names that we all agree upon. For our first choice we all said the same name, it was completely magical."
The Hobbit is the prequel to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.
In the recent movies directed by Peter Jackson, Baggins was played by Ian Holme.
The latest movie is being produced by Jackson, whose interpretation of the original novels won critical acclaim and a host of Oscars.
- BANG! SHOWBIZ
