Elijah Wood: 'The Hobbit plot a mystery'

Elijah Wood has revealed that he is very excited about returning to New Zealand to star in The Hobbit.

The actor will take part in the shooting from the winter onwards after filming his television series Wilfred.

He told Coming Soon: "They've stretched it out over the course of two films – I'm so curious as to what other elements they've woven in, because there are certainly additional works that refer to that same time period that they could weave into it.

"So I'm just very excited to sort of see what the ultimate vision is."

Wood will be playing Frodo Baggins again, who does not feature in the novel The Hobbit.

Lord of the Rings fansites have speculated that Wood's return could mean that other characters including Samwise Gamgee and Merry will be reprised for the prequel.

Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie has also been confirmed to play a new role in The Hobbit.