Sir Ian McKellen made it official Tuesday that he'll playing Gandalf in Peter Jackson's two-part movie adaptation of The Hobbit, which starts shooting February 14 in New Zealand.
Andy Serkis has also signed up to play Gollum and talks are ongoing with stars including Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom to appear. It has previously been announced that The Office and Sherlock actor Martin Freeman will play Bilbo in the motion picture. It features a spoofy holiday promotion of a Hobbit-hole, the text “A Middle Earth Tourist Board Promotion” and three of the more well-known regions of The Shire – Hobbiton, Bywater and Buckland.
On Wednesday, the actor tell fans why the deal took so long
The deciding negotiation was not about money but about dates. Gandalf is needed on set over the next 18 months but with sizable breaks when I can work on other projects. My worry that I could not easily escape from Middle Earth was lifted.”
“The Hobbit” book introduced Gandalf and Gollum, with both characters going on to become part of literature's most popular roles. In that light, McKellen and Serkis's confirmation they will return after years of delays is great news.
At Savannah Film Festival, where he was given a lifetime-achievement award, Sir McKellen answered who would win in a hypothetical epic battle: Albus Dumbledore versus Gandalf the White
Well, the real wizard, of course.”
Being asked if he has any regrets for getting a Lord of the Rings tattoo, famous actor replied
Oh no, not at all. It was a sweet idea. The hobbits had such a wonderful time on their first big job, and they wanted to commemorate it in some way. I'm very proud of that little tattoo.”
The Hobbit films will be released in December 2012 and December 2013. They're being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with New Line managing production, Warner Bros Pictures handling domestic distribution and MGM distributing internationally.
