I also don't think you're chauvinistic for not liking the idea that they might make Sam a woman. It's not so much that they would be giving him a sex change but the reasoning behind it that angers me--God forbid that anyone (mistakenly) perceives "homosexual undertones"! And as for Gandalf...why would they make him female? Why not just stick to the book?

Some other rumors I've seen on the Net:

They will apparently make 3 films.
Warwick Davis (who was in "Willow," and played Wicket in "Return of the Jedi") might play Bilbo.
The hobbits, dwarves, and other short characters might be CGI animations. (I really don't like this idea. I keep having mental images of that Dancing Baby...)
Sean Bean might be up for the role of Aragorn.
John Howe and Alan Lee are working on production design. (If this is true, at least the movie will look good...)

Of course, I don't know how true any of this is--it's just information I found on the Internet (mostly from Ain't-It-Cool News, and a few other sources).

Finally, some casting suggestions to add to yours...

I think Emma Thompson would be great as Galadriel.

How about Patrick Stewart as Denethor? Or maybe Paul Scofield...

Jeremy Irons might be good as Saruman...he certainly has the right voice.

Also, I said before that I don't like the idea of using CGI animation for some of the characters, but if they must do that, how about Kenneth Branagh for the voice of Gollum? I can just hear it: "Nice hobbitses..."

Note: I'm not one of those people who think that any film of LotR should feature only British actors--it's more an indication of the kinds of movies I like.

And a somewhat unrelated question: does anyone else think LotR would make a great opera?