Casting for The Hobbit has apparently begun, the news of which means that I’m back to split feelings of incredible exhilaration, and a terrible, impending doom. The Hobbit was my introduction to fantasy literature and made me a lifetime reader, both of the fantasy genre and of literature in general. It’s an important, central work for me and for many others.

While of course we’ll always have the book, regardless of what we get in the final film product, my fervent hope is that producer Peter Jackson and director Guillermo Del Toro get the movie right. It’s too important to screw up.

Some of my questions about The Hobbit were answered back in May of 2008 in an interview with Jackson and Del Toro over at the WetHolics Web site. For example, we now know that Del Toro plans to make The Hobbit as a serious PG-13 epic, similar to Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. That isn’t such a bad thing. While some argue that a film adaptation of The Hobbit should be light-hearted and geared for children, Tolkien’s novel reads differently. While there is some adolescent, fairy-tale quality at the outset of The Hobbit, a change occurs over the course of the tale, and by the Battle of Five Armies we’re in the midst of a rather adult, grim story.

But that’s not to say that The Hobbit will and should be a LOTR clone. Later in the interview Jackson states that The Hobbit “can, and should have a different tone.” I certainly wouldn’t mind a slightly lighter version of The Hobbit, and I hope a few songs make their way into the script. For what it’s worth, I’ll be sorely disappointed if this snatch of verse isn’t in the finished product, sung by deep-throated dwarves:

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns cold
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold

The interview also managed to allay some of my fears as well. Del Toro says his wargs will be wolf-like, not the oversized hyenas of Jackson’s film. He also recognizes the importance of Smaug, who not only has to be a convincing piece of CGI, but more importantly charismatic, sinister, and terrifying. Del Toro also expresses his affection for Beorn in the interview (I love the bearded shape-changer to an unhealthy degree as well), and adds that, if he has anything to say about it, Beorn will be in The Hobbit. Good news all around.

Yet there are reasons for Tolkien fans to worry. While on the surface The Hobbit seems much easier to adapt than The Lord of the Rings—it’s shorter, with fewer characters, and has a tighter, more focused narrative—it does present some difficulties. For one, it contains no strong male or female human leads, just hobbits and a lot of dwarves (unless you count Gandalf, and Ian McKellen isn’t going to set any teenage hearts aflutter). I of course am fine with this, but I hope this lack of a dashing, handsome human a-la Viggo Mortensen, or elf (aka., Liv Tyler) doesn’t panic any of the bean counters at New Line Cinema. Al Harron has already noted that there’s been a casting call for an apparently prominent female role, including the possibility of a female dwarf.

Now, I didn’t mind Arwen from Jackson’s LOTR, given that she was based on an actual character from the novel (albeit greatly expanded from her appearance in the Appendices to Return of the King) and served as a stand-in for Glorfindel. But a wholly manufactured female dwarf, for example, is another matter altogether and a very troubling sign.

I’m also not going to rest easy until the casting of Bilbo is complete. The film’s success hinges on someone who can really act, with the ability to evolve Bilbo’s character from a sheltered, comfortable, slightly stuffy resident of Bag End, to a hobbit awakened to accountability, more self-sufficient and with a deeper appreciation for the peace, whose “Eyes that fire and sword have seen, and horror in the halls of stone.” Ian Holm was brilliant in LOTR and I have no doubt he could pull this off, but he’s certainly too old for the role. Is it too much to hope that we’ll get someone else with Holm’s chops to play the younger Bilbo? The film needs this, more so than any convincing CGI or beautifully choreographed battle sequences (though I’m looking forward to these, too).

We also learned back in April that the mysterious second film will not be a sequel to The Hobbit or some pseudo LOTR prequel, but rather The Hobbit broken up into two films. Praise be to Eru Ilúvatar for this news. With all due respect to Del Toro and Jackson—talented filmmakers both—creating their own stories of Middle Earth was a recipe for disaster. Tolkien’s imitators are legion, and none of his literary successors in my opinion have come close to equaling the unique feel of Middle Earth, or its mythic depth.

Following is a chapter-by-chapter rundown of my favorite scenes from the book and what I expect (and hope) to see on the big screen.

An unexpected party. I hope they film the whole bloody thing, word for word from the book. I want to see Gandalf carving his mark on Bilbo’s green door (Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward), the dwarves drinking ale and eating cakes and singing old dwarven songs, and Gandalf unrolling Thror’s curled, yellowing map of the Lonely Mountain on Bilbo’s dinner table. I would love a flashback sequence of the coming of Smaug, and dwarves roasting in the dragon fire in the dark halls of Lonely Mountain, with Thorin providing a grim voice-over. And at the end, poor Bilbo hurrying out the door without his hat, walking-stick, or any money.

A Short Rest. A return to Rivendell and the last homely house would be welcome sights, as I thought the Rivendell set-piece from LOTR was well-done. It would be great to see Elrond examining Orcrist and Glamdring, and watching the dwarves’ faces light up in surprise as the moon-letters appear on Thror’s map.

Over Hill and Under Hill. I’m envisioning a great scene of the dwarves slogging through the Misty Mountains in a driving thunderstorm, stooped over in the swirling winds, and a scene of stone giants hurling rocks into vast, bottomless chasms. The entire sequence with the goblins—the crack opening in the cave; goblins emerging and grabbing the sleeping dwarves; Gandalf to the rescue, rushing in with magic and sword to slay the great goblin; and the pursuit through the tunnels—is made for film, and is cinematic enough to probably make it more or less intact.

Riddles in the Dark. This should be the centerpiece of the film. I fear it may lose some impact because the audience has been saturated with Gollum from the LOTR films. I also wonder whether the riddle-game will translate well on the big screen. Some of the riddles are lengthy and difficult to comprehend (I personally don’t see No-legs lay on one-leg, two-legs sat near on three-legs, four-legs got some making its way into the final script), so some cutting/revision/simplification will probably be necessary.

Queer Lodgings. Del Toro has stated that he likes Beorn, but the interview leaves open the possibility that he may be cut from the script a-la Tom Bombadil. While it seems like an easy cut—the party’s trek to Beorn’s home isn’t necessary to advance the plot, and it introduces another narrative-slowing character—lopping Beorn from the script would rob him of his grand entrance into the Battle of the Five Armies, whereby he smashes the bodyguard of Blog in bear-form. For this alone, I hope he makes it in (or at least in the Director’s Cut).

Flies and Spiders. Given Jackson’s love of monstrous spiders and other nasties (witness Shelob, and the insect cave in King Kong), I fully expect to see a CGI feast in Mirkwood. My guess is they’ll make the spiders more insect-like and remove their speaking voices to increase their menace, which would sadly rob Bilbo of his comical taunting (“Attercop, Lazy Lob,” etc.). Regardless, it will be great to “see” an invisible Bilbo driving off the spiders with Sting.

Barrels out of bond. The barrel-riding scene should add some nice comic relief.

A Warm Welcome. Seeing Thorin come into his own as the King Under the Mountain, revered by the awed populace of Laketown, would be cool to see on film. Cue epic music.

On the Doorstep. More opportunity for a CGI-fest as the dwarves pass the wreckage of old Dale and the Desolation of the Dragon on their way to the Lonely Mountain.

Inside Information. A chance for some horror as Bilbo makes his way down the dark tunnel into Smaug’s cave. I can’t wait to see what the effects gurus do with Smaug, and I hope it’s as terrifying to see him fly into a red rage on film and smash the secret door as it was when I first read The Hobbit. Smaug’s treasure horde should be suitably awesome cinematic eye-candy as well. But I hope they don’t sacrifice charisma and menace for CGI. These traits make Smaug unique among dragons.

Not at Home. I was impressed with the way Jackson handled Moria in LOTR and I expect a similar great tour of the halls of the mountain king here. I’m sensing a mix of comedy (oversized mail shirts, helmets falling over eyes) and the epic (in the vein of Theoden girding up for the battle of Helm’s Deep, reciting the poem about Eorl the Young) as Bilbo and the Dwarves arm themselves with ancient gem-crusted weapons and mithril shirts of mail.

Fire and Water. The action of the film will pick up here as we get Smaug’s attack on Dale. Again, let’s hope Jackson and Del Toro keep the character of Bard and let him slay Smaug with his black arrow. Sure, Bard is a minor character but it would be cheesy to rewrite the script to have Thorin or Bilbo playing the hero’s role here.

A Thief in the Night. I hope we don’t lose the great interlude of Bilbo handing over the Arkenstone to the elves and the men of Laketown in an attempt to bring Thorin to the bargaining table. But I fear we might.

The Clouds Burst. Get ready for an epic battle, at least on par with Helm’s Deep and perhaps even Minas Tirith. I’m looking forward to seeing dwarves get their due as great axe-fighters, which is one of the criticisms I have of LOTR (Gimli was used too much as comic relief, largely ignoring the fact that he was also quite a grim fighter in the book). And what red-blooded fantasy fan isn’t looking forward to seeing men and elves and dwarves of Dain fighting shoulder-to-shoulder against goblins and wargs? What insane individual doesn’t want to see Thorin and co. wading out into the mass of fighting bodies like a wedge, driving their foes before them until they break on the bodyguard of Bolg? And as I stated before, I hope the battle climaxes with Beorn in bear shape crashing into the bodyguard and bringing down Bolg himself. All in all, this has the potential for greatness.

The Return Journey/The Last Stage. The last two chapters appear to require little to no modification, as they provide a perfect cinematic wrap-up to the tale. We get Thorin on his deathbed, repentant at last (and I hope to see his dying lines verbatim: “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world”); gift-giving with the elven king; tearful farewells with the dwarves; and Bilbo’s return to Hobbiton bearing his two small chests of gold, placing Sting over the mantelpiece. It’s probably not necessary to include Bilbo’s presumed death and the scene with the Sackville-Bagginses clearing out Bag-End. I can see the film ending on a portent-laden scene with Bilbo protectively tucking away the Ring, a possessive gleam in his eye as he does so.

If done right, this could be a phenomenal film. But one can also see the potential for it to be mucked up, its magic scripted and CGI-ed out, or modified for the sake of pleasing/pacifying a “modern” audience.

I’ll be there on the opening night of The Hobbit, of course, but I’ll be watching with one eye open, the other shut, hoping that everyone involved in its making has the sense to hew closely to Tolkien’s novel. It’s a simple formula, and therein lies success.

Artwork by Michael Hague, David Wenzel, and Justin Gerard.