More Hobbit News

Del Toro Talks Hobbit, McKellen Returns
The director discusses the direction of the upcoming movie and sequel; Sir Ian to reprise role as Gandalf.
by Josh Hurst | posted 05/05/08

Last week, we reported that Guillermo del Toro—director of films like Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth, and long-rumored to be Peter Jackson's choice to direct The Hobbit—was officially confirmed as the helmer for the two-part Lord of the Rings prequel. This week, the man himself has spoken with MTV about the direction in which he'll take the franchise, addressing some fan concerns.

Del Toro knows that he has big shoes to fill, and that it will be a challenge to make these films his own. The director confirms that he will be creating "a large portion" of new creatures and locales for the film, but also that he is "very comfortable living within the walls of the world [Jackson] created during the second half of the second film."

Additionally—and surely to the relief of many fans—del Toro acknowledges that he views The Hobbit as, primarily, a children's story.

And that second film, the one that fits between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring? Del Toro says it will be about "the transition from the golden years to the rise of Sauron. It's essentially the beginning of civil war and uprisings. It's a very interesting time."

The director says he expects to be working with returning Middle-Earthers Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Howard Shore (composer) on this film, though whether Ian "Bilbo Baggins" Holm will be involved is still in question. One cast member, however, has been confirmed: Sir Ian McKellen will indeed be reprising his role as Gandalf in the upcoming films.

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McKellen ready to play Gandalf again in "Hobbit"

Sir Ian McKellen on The Hobbit Films

Source: Ian McKellen

March 26, 2008

Will Sir Ian McKellen reprise his Oscar-nominated role of Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" prequels The Hobbit and its sequel? McKellen says it's pretty likely on his latest official E-Post:

Q: So has it come to pass, good Sir McKellen? Shall the dreaming masses with their musty books and their blackened pipes at long last hear those immortal words issue from under that famous nose? "Yes, yes, my dear sir-and I know your name, Mr. Bilbo Baggins. And you do know my name, though you don't remember that I belong to it. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me! To think I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I was selling buttons at the door!" Looking about, I find I share the same hopes as millions of others, so I ask, a single query in a chorus... Will you again be our Gandalf in "The Hobbit" now that the deal is settled?

A: Yes I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor. I've just read your quote out loud - fabulous speech.

Q: Have you been approached yet by Peter Jackson or anyone else about reprising your wonderful role as Gandalf for the two upcoming "Hobbit" movies. I read that principal photography begins in 2009, and I can't imagine those movies without you!

A: Encouragingly, Peter and Fran Walsh have told me they couldn't imagine The Hobbit without their original Gandalf. Their confidence hasn't yet been confirmed by the director Guillermo del Toro but I am keeping my diary free for 2009!

Warner Bros.' New Line is planning 2010 and 2011 releases for the two films.

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Del Toro: Hobbit Moving Forward

Director says discussions for Lord of the Rings "prequels" are ongoing.

by Josh Hurst posted 04/07/08

Guillermo del Toro, long rumored to be the director for The Hobbit, says the movie is moving forward in capable hands. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, del Toro says that everything is still in the talking phase: "There have been a lot of discussions of cast and crew, agreements on the direction the movies would go, and if and when I come on board. But other than that, frankly it's all immaterial until everything is signed and put on paper."

The Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth director is quick to remind fans that patience will be needed; he hasn't officially signed a contract yet, and even if he does, it's a "huge endeavor"—at least a five-year commitment, he says. "It's two movies back-to-back that are massive. So a lot has to be sorted out. All I can say is, creatively we are all in sync and eager to commit and move forward."

Del Toro admits that the recent folding of New Line Cinema has delayed the project a bit, but he does have some encouraging news for fans of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy; though he declines to discuss specifics, he does confirm that he will be working with the original screenwriting team of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens.

Wood ready to reprise Frodo for "Hobbit"

Attention Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, and Sean Astin: You’ve gone “There.” Now get ready to go “Back Again” - at least according to Elijah Wood’s conversations with “Hobbit” maestro Peter Jackson.

“I haven’t spoken to him 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.

Which means plenty of opportunities for all the stars of “LOTR” to reprise their famous characters in some capacity. None more so, perhaps, than Wood himself, who would arguably be a central figure along with Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, and Gollum in any connecting story.

For his part, Wood, who next stars as a conscripted citizen in “Day Zero,” is positively thrilled at the possibility.

“If I’m asked to go back and revisit that character and it makes sense, I would love to. I would absolutely love to,” he said.

True, hard-core Tolkien aficionados could tell you that not much is known about Frodo in the intervening years between “The Hobbit” and “LOTR,” excepting, of course, his parents’ deaths and some conversations and journeys with Bilbo which are alluded to in the later legendarium.

That makes it all the more a guarantee that Wood would return, he declared.

“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 [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.”

As an actor, Wood is excited about the possibility of returning with Jackson to the world of Middle-earth. But he’s even more excited, he said, as a fan.

“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.”