Ian McKellen is serious about returning to play Gandalf within the just lately introduced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, however there’s an vital catch.
McKellen, who beforehand appeared as Middle-earth’s watchful wizard within the authentic The Lord of the Rings trilogy in addition to The Hobbit trilogy, spoke a couple of potential return throughout an interview with The Times. He says he’s heard Gandalf may return however clarifies that there “isn’t any script, there isn’t any supply, there isn’t any plan.” His choice to return because the character is as much as one factor: whether or not or not he’s nonetheless round.
When requested if he’d be serious about taking part in Gandalf as soon as extra, he plainly stated, “If I’m alive.”
The 85-year-old McKellen final performed the character in 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, that means it’s been nearly a decade since he final placed on the wizard’s hat and gown. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, in the meantime, isn’t set to reach till 2026 on the earliest, with early script work now underway.
McKellen is not the one actor who’s commented on the potential for returning to the franchise. Viggo Mortensen, who performed Aragorn within the Lord of the Rings trilogy, additionally just lately stated he’d be serious about reprising the function for The Hunt for Gollum, however acknowledged that it must justify him being 20 years older than he was within the earlier movies.
Details on The Hunt for Gollum are gentle, however we do know a bit about how the movie will discover Andy Serkis’ iconic character. Peter Jackson just lately spoke about how the plan is that the film will contain some content material he “didn’t have time to cowl” together with his authentic The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
“We actually wish to discover his backstory and delve into these elements of his journey we didn’t have time to cowl within the earlier movies,” he stated. “It’s too quickly to know who will cross his path, however suffice to say we are going to take our lead from [original author J.R.R. Tolkien.”
Don’t confuse The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum with the fan-film of the same name. Warner Bros. actually took down the 15-year-old project upon announcing its continuation for the Lord of the Rings theatrical universe last month. It returned less than 24 hours later. For more on The Lord of the Rings, you can watch our interview with the Rings of Power cast from IGN Live.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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