McKellen to reprise role in "Hobbit"
Enlarge imageLONDON (Reuters) - Actor Ian McKellen will reprise the role of the wizard Gandalf in the upcoming movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Hobbit", he told a film magazine.
The 68-year-old star played the part in the hugely successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been named to direct two films based on "The Hobbit".
"Yes, it’s true," McKellen told Empire magazine.
"I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf."
Del Toro, whose credits include "Pan’s Labyrinth", will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work on both "Hobbit" films with executive producer Jackson, according to New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.
The studios have said that filming will begin in 2009, with tentative release dates set of 2010 for the first film and 2011 for the sequel.
(Writing by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
LONDON (Reuters) - Actor Ian McKellen will reprise the role of the wizard Gandalf in the upcoming movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s "The Hobbit", he told a film magazine.
The 68-year-old star played the part in the hugely successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has been named to direct two films based on "The Hobbit".
"Yes, it’s true," McKellen told Empire magazine.
"I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf."
Del Toro, whose credits include "Pan’s Labyrinth", will move to New Zealand for the next four years to work on both "Hobbit" films with executive producer Jackson, according to New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.
The studios have said that filming will begin in 2009, with tentative release dates set of 2010 for the first film and 2011 for the sequel.
(Writing by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare)
© 2008 Reuters Click for restrictions
Advertisement starts
Advertisement ends
U.S. Elections
Find out all about American's next President and how the states voted.
Weekly quiz
Have you been paying attention? Take our weekly, fun news quiz to test your knowledge of current affairs.
Weather forecasts
Get the 7-day forecast for your region.
WAGS
It's not just footballers who get shown the red card. Take a look at some of the WAGS back on the market.
Odd pics
Look back at the week in picture in our special gallery of the weird and wonderful.
Experian Credit Report
Check who's been checking on you with your FREE Experian credit report.Latest Headlines
- Boy George faces jail for imprisonment
- Coldplay accused of plagiarism
- Graham Norton takes over Eurovision job
- Recession puts economic shine on movie comedies
- Jethro Tull to play first Mumbai concert after attacks
- Rowling says fans prompted new book
- Will Smith rolling out low-profile Oscar bid
- Stones insider pins fracas on cops
- Joseph Fiennes to star in U.S. TV drama
- "Emo Boy" a big-screen drama queen
Page Footer
Access keys
You will need to use different key combinations in order to use access keys depending on your internet browser, find out which on our accessibility page.
- (0) Navigate to Accessibility page.
- (1) Navigate to Home page.
- (2) Navigate to My email.
- (3) Navigate to My Account.
- (4) Navigate to Site Map page.
- (5) Navigate to Contact us page.
- (6) Navigate to Members channel.
- (7) Navigate to Services channel.
- (8) Navigate to News & Info channel.
- (9) Navigate to Entertainment channel.
- ([) Skip down to the Primary navigation block.
- (]) Skip down to the more links within this section block.
- (=) Bypass all navigation and jump to the content.
- (x) Text only version of this page.
