McKellen Confirms Hobbit Habit
Sir Ian McKellen is going there and back again.
The acclaimed British thespian, who, as the wizard Gandalf the Grey, helped shepherd Frodo Baggins through a perilous journey in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has announced he will reprise his Academy Award-nominated role for the hugely anticipated Hobbit prequels.
"Yes, it's true," McKellen told Britain's Empire movie magazine. "It's not a part that you turn down. I love playing Gandalf."
The twin films will be based on J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which of course he published before his epic Lord of the Rings cycle.
This time around, however, the 68-year-old McKellen will team up with Jackson's bespectacled stand-in, Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth), who announced last week that he was moving to New Zealand for four years to take the reins on the project.
Jackson and longtime partner Fran Walsh, who already have their hands full adapting the beloved Tintin to the big screen, among other films in the pipeline, will serve as executive producers on the Hobbit flicks and collaborate with del Toro to ensure proper continuity with their Oscar-winning LOTR.
The first Hobbit movie will follow the story of Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins (played in the LOTR films by Sir Ian Holm), as he journeys with a group of dwarves to a dragon's lair to recover stolen treasure. The second will mine material from Tolkien's appendices about the 60 years between The Hobbit and the start of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
McKellen added that he was excited to be working with the Mexican-born helmer, who's beginning to work on the scripts.
"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," Sir Ian said. "As to how it's going to work over two films and what's going to happen onscreen, well, Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yetI can tell you it's going to be amazing though."
Talking to the fansite TheOneRing.net, del Toro confirmed McKellen's casting as well as that of Andy Serkis, who's once again aboard to play Gollum. Serkis, in fact, has added The Hobbit to his list of upcoming films on his official Website, just after Jackson's Tintin.
Filming on the Hobbit movies is set to get under way in 2009, with the films unspooling in 2010 and 2011.
Del Toro Gets Down to Middle-Earth
The Hobbit's got itself a handler.
Guillermo del Toro has signed on to direct the long-gestating adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's pre-Lord of the Rings masterpiece, as well as a sequel chronicling the Middle-Earth action that takes place during the 60 years before Bilbo Baggins passes that pesky piece of jewelry on to his cousin Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Mexican-born filmmaker will be relocating to New Zealand for four years to shoot the two films back to back, the way Peter Jacksonwho is producing the venture for cofinanciers New Line Cinema and MGMdid with his LOTR trilogy.
New Line, which is overseeing development and production, said Thursday there is no script to speak of yet, but it's likely the Oscar-winning team of Jackson, wife Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will collaborate with del Torohimself an Original Screenplay nominee for Pan's Labyrinth last yearon the project.
"I am indeed blessed to become a part of the filmmaking community that Peter, Fran and their extraordinary team of collaborators have created in New Zealand," del Toro said in a statement. "Contributing to the Lord of the Rings legacy is an absolute dream come true."
Jackson and Walsh returned the compliment in their own statement, labeling del Toro "a cinematic magician who has never lost his childlike sense of wonder."
"We have long admired Guillermo's work and cannot think of a more inspired filmmaker to take the journey back to Middle-Earth," they said.
Jackson was originally going to do the behind-the-camera honors himself, but a squabble with New Line over his LOTR proceeds put an end to that fanciful idea. Although they settled their differences late last year, by then Jackson was already committed to bringing Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones to the big screen, and del Toro arose as the likely choice to succeed Jackson as the cinematic master of Middle-earth.
But del Toro can't delve into this brave new world just yet. He's currently still ensconced in postproduction on Hellboy 2, a sequel to the surprise 2004 hit about a big red demon who fights the forces of darkness.
The Hobbit: Peter Jackson Returns
The rumors are true: Lord of the Rings trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson and New Line have come to an agreement, and will band together to bring The Hobbit to the big screen, split over two live-action films. MGM and New Line will co-finance the project, with New Line handing North American distribution, and MGM handing the International. It is currently believed that Peter Jackson will not be available to direct either of the two films, as his schedule is full. The announcement says that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh will serve as Executive Producers of two films, which will be shot simultaneously.
Spider-Man director Sam Raimi has been anxiously watching this project, and his future schedule is pretty much clear. Raimi has said that he wouldn’t be involved unless Jackson produced, and it looks like the perfect situation is now in place. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see the Raimi announcement before Christmas.
Said Peter Jackson, “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a legacy we proudly share with Bob and Michael, and together, we share that legacy with millions of loyal fans all over the world. We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle Earth. I also want to thank Harry Sloan and our new friends at MGM for helping us find the common ground necessary to continue that journey.”
Principal photography is tentatively set for a 2009 start with a production budget of $150 million per film. They are currently eyeing release dates in 2010 and 2011. It has been previously rumored that the film would be shot and released in 3D, although Jackson and New Line are keeping mum at this time.
Elijah Wood Talks The Hobbit
While on a trip in New Orleans, a scraggly psychic informed me that my moderately large eyes leave me perceptible to pranks and evils. If they were a little larger, I wonder, might I have been cast in The Lord of the Rings and now basking in millions? Elijah Wood, taking a break from his steady animated voice work, tells MTV that he would “love to” be involved in the recently greenlit “mystery meat” film thought to bridge The Hobbit to the LOTR trilogy.
“Nothing was really written with Frodo involved in it. That was sort of an ancillary tale outside of ‘Lord of the Rings.’ I can’t imagine that they [screenwriters Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens] would write great reams of information regarding my character,” he said of necessary invention outside of Tolkien’s established canon. “But if he [Frodo] should show up, it would actually be the perfect way to revisit because it could be small enough that I could go back and have a nice sort of reunion with the memories that I have of the experience.”
Whether the “sequel” following The Hobbit is the ferry that binds all remains speculation, as New Line Cinema has not confirmed specifics since the deal was made in December for Peter Jackson to executive produce both movies. Wood, however, apparently knows the dilly, and it resides in his email account.
“I haven’t spoken to [Peter Jackson] directly about it [but] I’ve e-mailed him, and as far as I know the two films that they’re doing, one will be ‘The Hobbit’ and another will take place between the 60 years that happened between ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” the once and future Frodo enthused to MTV News, possibly confirming rumors that the second planned film would not be a Part II, but instead a narrative bridge.”
And how does he feel about this joyous reunion between Jackson, New Line and Tolkien? Well, he’s giddy with pride, anticipation and opinion.
“It’s a great triumph [that Peter is involved.] I think that’s really important that the same team that worked on the [earlier] films [work on ‘The Hobbit’], the same effects team, that it be shot in New Zealand. I think that it’s important that Ian McKellen is cast as Gandalf, just so that there’s a synergy between the films,” he insisted. “I think people want it to exist in the same world. So at least now we are assured that it will be done through that same lens, which is great. It’s exciting.”
No info or opinions from the Radio Flyer star on the 3D rumors. I couldn’t imagine McKellen not being included under Jackson’s eye, and it’d be cool to see Frodo pop up as well, almost expected.