Anybody heard news of who they might be considering for the voice of Smaug. In the old Rankin/Bass cartoon, I thought Richard Boone was an awesome Smaug. If he was still alive, I'd vote for him any day. My most fervent hope for the movie is that they won't screw up this character, visual effects or vocals-wise. Smaug is so central to the plot of The Hobbit, he just has to be aces.

The only thing I know is that Christopher Lee really wants it. But I have no idea who they are actually considering.

I would hope that John-Rhys Davies would do it. He did an amazing job with Treebeards voice.

He would be very good. There are so many people out there who would be great. All you really need is a cool bass voice which can sound evil. Of course, in the end, there will be only one Smaug, and we won't even wish for anyone else (I hope.) They did such a good job of casting in LOTR, I'm quite comfortable that they'll find the right Smaug even if it isn't Lee or John Rhys-Davies.

This is by far the most important factor to me, I grew up with the original animated version of The Hobbit and still find to this day that the voice of Smaug is surpassed by none.
I have faith in Del Toro that he will find a proper voice for the Great Dark Nemesis,choosing the right voice however is easier said than done. I hope he chooses someone with not only a great baritone voice but a sinister aspect as well.
Avery Brooks (Ds9) has a nice mellow baritone with the ability to make it sinister when his character gets riled
Tony Todd(Candy Man,Minotaur) really nice baritone and definitely a sinister aspect with it,also authoritative and can definatley make the Great Dragon Smaug proud if done correctly.
If Andrew Divoff were permitted to refine his Gin from Wishmaster and make it deeper that might work...maybe.
now those are just thoughts and by no means definite s for me, I would love to see how the all powerful actor Christopher Lee would handle the Great dragon, and John Rhys Davies would bring a very interesting voice to the character indeed.
It is too bad some other obvious voices are not allowed to work for anyone because of contracts they have signed to stay with the one studio.
But you never know who will be up for Smaug. So long as Del Toro makes Smaug as sinister as he is Majestic The voice should easily fall into place.
And he has gotta do the whole"well thief I smell you ,feel your air, and I hear your breath ..." bit plus the chuckle well we got it made.
feel free to respond and lemme know what you think and who would you choose or consider for the voice of SMAUG.

What do you think about David Suchet? I'm not so sure, but I do know that he has a good voice. Maybe he's not right for Smaug, though.

How about Ian McShane? He would be perfect in my mind. Smart, cruel, dominating. Great voice and could easily pass as Smaug, at least in my mind.

I didn't realise it was Davies

I live on the same island as him (isle of man) and I'm hoping to pin him down for an exclusive at some point. He spends a lot of time in America though and is proving elusive.

I think it would be a nice touch to let Lee do it. He's the most qualified for the job any way being a Tolkien scholar and probably the only actor to have actually discussed the books at length with the author.

Don't laugh, but I think Russell Crowe would be a good voice of Smaug. It is gravely and deep enough to sound Dragonish..