BREAKING: Evangeline Lilly and Barry Humphries Cast in ‘The Hobbit’

Peter Jackson announced on his Facebook page today that  Evangeline Lilly and Barry Humphries have joined The Hobbit Cast. In his post Jackson wrote:

“Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character—the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.) What is not a secret is how talented and compelling an actress Evangeline is; we are thrilled and excited she will be the one to bring our first true Sylvan Elf to life….I’m also highly excited that Barry Humphries will be portraying the Goblin King, in much the way Andy Serkis created Gollum.”

This news comes right on tail of Thursday’s casting announcements, that Benedict Cumberbatch will voice Smaug the Magnificent and Luke Evans will play Bard the Grim. The first installment of the two-part films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will hit theaters on December 14th, 2012 with The Hobbit: There and Back Again, following the next year on December 13th, 2013.