It's been over a decade since Ian McKellen donned Gandalf's robes on the set of the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Now 10 years later, the British actor is itching to revisit Middle Earth. He recently read the script for the first of "The Hobbit" films, but with no start date for production, the guy is getting a little antsy.
"Gandalf is a fantastic part and I long to do it," McKellen told MTV News, adding that both he and "LOTR" director Peter Jackson prefer the earlier Gandalf the Grey version to his later, post-resurrection incarnation. "He was more humane somehow. He was the guy who liked to hang out with the hobbits and drink too much and smoke too much." Read more...
Yesterday, we posted some of Eric Ditzian's interview with Sir Ian McKellen, who plays the wizard Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" and upcoming "Hobbit" movies. In one of the more compelling bits, the actor revealed that the scripts for the two films with feature plotlines culled from other J.R.R. Tolkien sources.
McKellen wouldn't elaborate any further than that, but a recent interview Guillermo del Toro gave to TotalFilm may shed some additional light on what the Gandalf actor was referring to. "We are respecting the structure established by Professor Tolkien because the order of the adventures in 'The Hobbit' is well known to generations and generations of kids," the director said. "You don’t want to be moving stuff like that." So what's new? Read more...
Tolkien-ites freaked out over the fate of "The Hobbit" – when's it gonna start shooting? Will the studio's financial implosion affect production? Um, the movies are still happening, right?! – received a much-needed boost last month from Ian McKellen, who revealed he'd actually read the script.
MTV News had a chance to chat with Sir Ian while he was promoting his AMC mini-series, "The Prisoner," and the actor behind Gandalf the Grey revealed some more details – and clarified others – that keep the Tolkien boosts coming. Read more...
When Ian McKellen said that "The Hobbit" scripts would be delivered shortly, he really wasn't kidding. Not only are the screenplays turned in, but the once-and-future Gandalf has read them both.
McKellen spoke with Sci Fi Wire about the scripts, except that the role of Gandalf was particularly tailored to his sensibilities this time around.
"As Peter [Jackson] has said, they loved writing Gandalf [for 'The Hobbit'] because they knew who they were writing for," said the actor. "There are a lot of characters in 'The Hobbit,' including, crucially, Bilbo, and they don't know who's going to play Bilbo. So it's extremely attractive that this part has been written for me. The other Gandalf was written for, well, just as Gandalf. There's lots for me to enjoy, in all sorts of ways. And I couldn't be happier. But I'm sworn to secrecy. I'm not to say anything at all about the script." Read more...
Nobody tosses a dwarf — not even "Lord of the Rings" actor John Rhys-Davies, who recently declared that he won't be throwing himself back into dwarven garb anytime soon, despite offers to the contrary.
In an interview with Empire, Rhys-Davies revealed that he has been approached about appearing in "The Hobbit," the Guillermo del Toro-directed and Peter Jackson-produced sequel to the beloved "Rings" trilogy. Sadly, the actor doesn't plan on elongating his beard and truncating his height anytime soon — his days as a battle-hungry dwarf are over. Read more...
Ah, "The Hobbit." At long last, movie-goers will once again have a chance to be whisked away to the real-life Middle-earth that Peter Jackson created for his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Only this time that vision will be guided by director Guillermo del Toro. News has been relatively light on the project, which is understandable considering that it's still a few years off.
We fans will still take any update we can get, right? The latest comes from no less a personage than Sir Ian McKellen, aka Gandalf the Grey, speaking in an interview with Empire. The actor knows the score with "The Hobbit," and he had an update on where the powers-that-be are in the process of pulling the adaptation together. Read more...
Last night, MTV's Kurt Loder sat down with "The Lord of the Rings" composer Howard Shore and Pippin the Hobbit actor Billy Boyd at The Paley Center for Media. Kurt was there to moderate a panel called Shore on the Score: The Music of "The Lord of the Rings," which featured Shore, Boyd and The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films author Doug Adams.
The event kicked off a week long "Lord of the Rings" celebration which will culminate with live performances of the "Fellowship of the Ring" score at Radio City Music Hall on October 9 and 10. Read more...
Last week, it looked like Sauron had joined forces with the best of James Bond's rogue's gallery to kill off the denizens of the Shire and 007 himself. Or, in less ridiculous terms, MGM was in big trouble, facing the possible loss of both the Bond franchise and "The Hobbit" due to seemingly insurmountable financial woes.
But nothing is insurmountable, my friends, particularly where hobbits are concerned. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that MGM has been rescued by key lenders, securing enough cash to continue development on "The Hobbit," which is being produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Guillermo Del Toro as a two-part feature. Read more...
While Bob Weinstein was announcing sequels and Neve Campbell's return to the "Scream" franchise last night, MGM investors were fretting over a dispiriting conference call led by studio management. Things are looking bleak, my friends. The gist of it, as reported by Nikki Finke for Deadline Hollywood, is that right now MGM needs $20 million to cover basic overhead and another $150 million to finish out the year. This includes funding for high-profile projects like "The Hobbit" and the next James Bond movie.
"The implication is that [the studio] is teetering on bankruptcy," one source said. A band-aid was applied over the summer when CEO Harry Sloan was relegated to a non-executive role and three senior execs stepped in to take the reins. With a debt that falls just south of $4 billion, the move may have come too late. Read more...
For the record, there's nothing wrong with "The Road" star Viggo Mortensen not knowing much about the plans that Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro have in place for their two-part big screen telling of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit." Aragorn, his "Lord of the Rings" character, doesn't actually factor into that story. That doesn't mean he can't be written in, but clearly no one's mentioned anything to Mortensen.
Speaking to the actor last week at the Toronto International Film Festival, MTV's Josh Horowitz got the actor talking about his potential involvement in... the post-"Hobbit" bridge film. Director del Toro exclusively told MTV over the summer that he won't be directing any bridge film. Still, even though there's no new information in the below video, I know plenty of women who would want to see it anyway. For Viggo. So... here you are!
