Image: Warner Bros./New Line Cinema
It’s only been about a month since Warner Bros. revealed it was working on a new Lord of the Rings movie. With Andy Serkis in the director’s chair and mocap suit, the studio’s fully set to get the Hunt for Gollum prequel film in theaters by 2026, and that’s naturally got people talking about if any actors from the original movies—and for whom it makes sense—could pop up here in their original role.
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During a recent interview with the UK paper The Times, Sir Ian McKellen briefly touched on Gollum and his chances of coming back as beloved wizard Gandalf the White (née the Grey). He’s quite aware of the recent “stirrings in Tolkein’s land,” and that his character’s intended to pop up in the film. But while there’s there’s “no script, there is no offer, [or] plan,” he’s more than down to do it…provided he’s actually still alive when Gollum actually goes into production.
McKellen turned 85 at the end of May, and his Times interview opens with him saying “you are aware that this life doesn’t go on for ever. By the time the original Rings trilogy was filming, he was in his early-to-mid 60s, and he ended the Hobbit trilogy in his mid 70s. He continues to get a healthy amount of work across stage and screen, but he was also candid about being more selective in what parts he goes for nowadays. “When a script [or offer] comes through, you think, ‘This might be my last job. No. I’m not doing that.’”
Come next month, McKellen will reprise his role as Magneto in Deadpool & Wolverine, the other big film role that he became known for in the 2000s. The apparent idea of him trying to choose what’ll be his last role in either theatre or film is honestly endearing, and more than a little sweet that he hopes to bring things full circle in some capacity.
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