The Hobbit (novel)/WMG

Possible casting choice in the Live-Film version of The Hobbit
BRIAN BLESSED as Beorn.
 * Jossed.

BRIAN BLESSED as Dain Ironfoot.
 * Still listed as an IMDB rumor.
 * Alas, also Jossed. The part has been confirmed to the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly.

Possible Plot-points in the Live-action film
The "Bridge" will be the White Council driving Sauron out of Dol Guldur.
 * Probably Jossed. An interview with Benedict Cumberbatch would indicate that Peter Jackson has scrambled the events a bit, and that the Necromancer will play some kind of role in the Battle of the Five Armies. Perhaps the Battle and the destruction of Dol Guldur will take place simultaneously in the movie and the Necromancer will be the driving force behind the sudden goblin invasion? It would make sense in terms of pacing, since having three separate epic climaxes would cause something of an ending fatigue in the moviegoers, and each climax would be less epic than the last. After all, in the original timeline Sauron falls first, followed by Smaug and finally Bolg, son of Azog, the leader of the goblins. This would mean three major villains, each less powerful than the last, and it's pretty much the exact opposite from what you expect from an epic fantasy story.
 * However, the interview that the article cites is from August, and judging from the way Cumberbatch talks about his role, its quite likely he mixed up two seperate storylines.

Peter Jackson will have a Creator Cameo as Tom Bombadil
And medical science will finally learn whether or not someone can be die of nerdgasm.
 * What are you talking about? Everyone knows that Peter Jackson will use black magic to resurrect J.R.R. Tolkien to play the role!

The Movie of The Silmarillion is on the way.
No apparent reason, but it'd make just a bit of sense that more of Middle-Earth would follow The Hobbit, and adapting the very Mythopoeia of Middle-Earth would be a pretty cool way of doing that.
 * Considering that The Silmarillion is even more complex and complicated than the other books, trying to film them would be difficult unless you did a ton of Adaptation Distillation. Although, that said, a film on The Children of Hurin would be pretty sweet.
 * Or Beren and Lúthien. Really, The Silmarillion being adapted as a whole would be nearly impossible, but there are several chunks of it that would make excellent movies. Of course, they'd need the Tolkien Estate's say-so on it, since it's not part of the rights already sold, and Christopher Tolkien's never been exactly what you'd call a fan of film adaptations of his father's work.
 * The problem with The Silmarillion being turned into a movie is that its plotlines are either insanely long, potentially lasting for thousands of years, or extremely character-centric and usually depressing, which is not what people usually want from a fantasy epic. The few that could somehow perhaps suit for movie adaptation like the story of Beren and Luthien require a fair bit of background story to understand what's going on, and would still probably baffle the movie viewers: "How is this couple and their dog kicking the ass of the Dark Lord Sauron?!"
 * Maybe they'll go down the A Song of Ice and Fire route and make a lengthy TV show. Though hopefully not HBO, or I'm not sure the Children of Hurin would be fit for viewing ANYHWERE.

We'll see Radagast playing with a moth at some point.
Just to retroactively tie into the scene where Gandalf summons Gwaihir in the original trilogy with the moth's aid, as an Easter Egg to those who've actually read the books.

There will be a Sherlock Holmes Shout Out.
With Holmes and Watson both appearing, it's just too awesome not to include.

Alternatively there with be Shout Outs to V for Vendetta and Doctor Who

 * Courtesy of Stephen Fry and Hugo Weaving having both worked on the former project together and the latter because Sylvester Mc Coy is playing Radagast the Brown.

Tauriel the Elf Warrior-Maiden will be...
All guesses go here.
 * A weapons master, who teaches Bilbo how to fight while he stays in either Mirkwood or Rivendell. The role makes sense, but it doesn't impede on the plot, in fact it contributes to Bilbo's character development.
 * Most likely she's there to fill various parts where nameless elves do something important, such as discover Bilbo when he flees the Mountain with the Arkenstone. It just makes sense to have more named characters to invoke some sympathy in the viewer, instead of a mass of nameless extras, when things get hairy.
 * Replacing one or more of the book characters in their scenes (shooting Smaug, killing the goblin-king...).
 * Both of those specific examples seem really unlikely. Bard's already been cast, and killing Smaug is his big moment. Of the two "goblin kings" in the novel, the Great Goblin is killed by Gandalf well before Tauriel (a Mirkwood elf) would be introduced, and Bolg is killed by Beorn, who's also definitely in. I would assume the "combine the roles of several background wood elves into one, more important, character) guess is more accurate.

Both versions of Chapter 5 (A Riddle in the Dark) will appear.
Since it is being told by Bilbo and Gandalf as a framing device, Bilbo will narrate the original version from the book, in which he wins the Ring from Gollum as a gift. Then he will be corrected by Gandalf, who will make him tell the "real" version that was retconned later.

Thranduil will pull of some fancy acrobatics during the Battle of the Five Armies
Because Legolas had to have got it from somewhere.