Freeman: Filming Restarts in May

Since the decision was made to turn The Hobbit into a trilogy was made after initial principle photography has been completed, there is now more to film. According to Martin Freeman it seems the cast will assemble in New Zealand starting in May. No specifics provided on exactly what is being filmed but safe to assume that it will probably involve at least a few scenes for The Desolation of Smaug and lion share probably for There and Back Again. From Hollywood.com:

"I am going back at the end of May for all of June and July. I suppose the thing is, this is not finished. We literally have to go and finish it. It's not a new adventure like on a television show. It's the same story. It's the same gig I started in January 2011. I think it'll be really fun because the crew is quite close and the cast are close and we like working on it. I'm anticipating it."

"The conversation we had quite a lot was, 'When can I start to lose, in a way, Bilbo's puffy eyes?'" says Freeman. "He starts off like most people — most people have never been to war, most people have never had a sword fight or a fight to the death, or been in the fear of death." While the Bilbo we see at the conclusion of An Unexpected Journey is no warrior, he does rise to the occasion and learn to rub shoulders with his Dwarven companions — a status Freeman was eager to get to. "I was always keen to play it straighter and straighter and straighter. And Pete would be, 'Not yet! Not yet! That comes later.'"

"The thing I was always aware of was that it was going to be a war or attrition," says Freeman. "You can't come out of the blocks in the first week at 100 miles per hour because you'll have nothing left in the tank by May. You just pace yourself, you do learn to take your time and converge energy. I don't think it feels like new demands, but then again, I haven't seen a shooting script yet, so they might have me walking through fire!"