The LOTR Characters Returning for Hobbit?

Although casting for "THE HOBBIT" starts this week, Peter Jackson told MTV that there are two "LORD OF THE RINGS" stars who will most likely be returning in addition to the previously-announced Ian McKellen :

"Gandalf, being a 2,000-year-old wizard, is still around and plays a major role in 'The Hobbit,' and we're having Ian McKellen reprise," explained the filmmaker, who is executive-producing the flick and writing the screenplay. "There's a couple of other characters: Elrond, who was played by Hugo Weaving [in the original films], and there's a possibility of Galadriel, who was played by Cate Blanchett."

Shooting on the Guillermo del Toro-directed films is scheduled to start around April or May. The first movie is targeted for a Dec. 2011 release followed a year later by the second in Dec. 2012.