You make it sound as though they'll be hiring Texas drovers just off the trail of a cattle drive. Now that's what I'd call a twang. No need to worry though, Slim Pickens is dead.

Seriously, I'd like to see Alan Rickman as Wormtongue. He can be so delightfully evil. For those who forgot, he was the heavy in Die Hard and in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves ("Cancel Christmas!).

And while I'd prefer British accents all around, I have seen very good films that have mixed American and British actors (Ben Hur for one with 11 Academy Awards) that came off quite well. So, my attitude is that I'm not going to criticize a film that hasn't even been made yet.

And one last word about accents. It has been argued that Tolkien wrote the book, and it is filled with British idioms, thus requires all the actors to speak with a British accent. But Tolkien wrote about an entire "world". Not every one in it spoke with a British accent, any more than if he had written a novel about visiting the USA and then having some one argue that the Americans have to speak with a British accent because the book was written by a Brit. What if Tolkien had been German, or a Scot or Sicilian? (Hey, whatsa matta you? Shut uppa you face!) I can see a Monty Python skit growing before my eyes...yikes!

I suppose I should be thankful that we Americans are allowed to read the King James version of the Bible, though I suspect that some of you regret that the Book was allowed to leave England and is now being sullied by our "twang".