The journey of bringing "The Hobbit" to the big screen has been a long and bumpy road, with some even suggesting that the project was cursed. But with principal production set to begin on March 21 it looks like a smoother ride ahead for "The Hobbit."

The prequel movies revolve around Bilbo Baggins, this time played by "Sherlock" actor Martin Freeman, and the many adventures he had in Middle Earth (which were alluded to in the original trilogy). In the original trilogy, Bilbo was played by Sir Ian Holm and Freeman has admitted that he took a level of inspiration from watching him play the character.

"Obviously I’ve been looking at what he was doing," he said. "There’s a certain level, of course, at which I have to match what he was doing and then forget it as well. Without being either big-headed or falsely modest, I think I’m quite a good match for him. I mean, I’ve seen worse matches … we’ll find out."

Freeman went on to comment about questions asked about all the trouble the production has faced recently. On if he is concerned about a "Hobbit" curse he admitted that there is something almost funny about the problems the movie has seen.

"I'm not [worried]," he said of the so-called curse. "There are some bits of bad luck to do with it, I guess, that are almost comical, I suppose. But we're all very optimistic about it. We’re all ready to go, just as soon as 2015 rolls around. We will be there and ready."

Despite the problems, the entire cast are dedicated to making "The Hobbit" the best movie it can be. William Kircher, who will be playing Bifur in the movies, has also acknowledged that the bar has been set very high and wants to make sure they can keep the same high standard set by The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"We are all focused really on the work at this stage," Kircher said. "We have a lot of live up to and are completely and utterly determined to live up to it."

"The Hobbit" will be presented as two movies and the first installment is scheduled to be released in late 2012.