Wednesday, July 23, 2008

McKellen is Gandalf in Hobbit films


From filmstalker, Ian McKellen has confirmed what we all thought was impossible not to be true, he will be playing Gandalf in the Hobbit films.

He also says that even with the new director at the helm the look and feel of the films won't be that different to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Speaking at a screening of The Dark Knight on Monday, Empire noted that Ian McKellen said:

“Well, I haven’t had the contract yet but it’s everyone’s intention that I play Gandalf so yes, I will be returning to the role. Although it’s not until 2010, I’m very much excited about returning...
...I think the look will be very much as it was, Weta is still involved, it’s still the same workshops, the same designers, I’ll be there, Andy Serkis (now confirmed to return as Gollum) will be there and Peter Jackson will still be around - not that he’ll interfere too much - so it’ll seem like the old family is getting back together again.”

So that's even with As we know Guillermo Del Toro at the helm of these new films which will take the The Hobbit story to the big screen and on to the beginning of Lord of the Rings, McKellen is happy that they will be as strong as the originals.

“Well, if you’re not going to have Peter Jackson, who else can handle the job? To get an international film-maker of his standing who adores the original trilogy, well I don’t think you could possibly find a better replacement.”
Sounds like a great endorsement, and while he hasn't yet actually signed the contract, I really doubt that anything will stop this from happening now, don't you? The question still remains though, how well are they going to bridge the gap between The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring

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