So far, unless you’re talking about Ian McKellan as Gandalf, every casting rumor related to The Hobbit has turned out to be flat wrong. At some point Guillermo del Toro is going to have actually cast someone in this movie though, and throw out enough rumors one of them is bound to be right, if only by accident. Odds are this isn’t that rumor, but here it is anyway. Tobey Maguire is rumored to be The Hobbit’s Bilbo.

The rumor comes from a variety of different sources, the most reliable of which is British tabloid The Sun, which isn’t reliable at all. They cite a vague source who claims Maguire is already signed and on board. Other sources make similar claims though, the way these things go, their vague, anonymous, insider source is probably The Sun.

This rumor made the rounds once before, back in December, and Tobey Maguire’s representation was quick to deny it. It was then doubly denied by sources close to the production who keep in touch with the good folks over at The One Ring. This hasn’t been re-denied yet (they're probably getting tired of denying it), but don’t be surprised if it is.

UPDATE! As predicted, the Maguire for Bilbo rumor has already been debunked. Word comes from Guillermo del Toro himself this time, who tells the folks at The One Ring that there's no truth to any of it.