Are you a fan of Ian McKellen’s portrayals of Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings movies and of Magneto in the X-Men franchise? Thought so. Well, you’re in luck on both counts!
The guys over at Empire got a chance to talk to the legendary Mr. McKellen at the San Sebastian Film Festival (where he spoke to Rotten Tomatoes the last time he talked about Gandalf) and he gave some more tidbits of info on the status of the LOTR prequel, The Hobbit, and of the planned X-Men solo spinoff movie, X-Men Origins: Magneto.
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We’ve known for some time that McKellen will be returning to portray Gandalf in Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of the pre-LOTR book, The Hobbit. And ever since then, McKellen has been feeding us little bits of info and opinions on his reprising of the role – and we’ve happily been nibbling at them like the movie news-hungry fans we are. Adding to that, Empire spoke to the wizard again recently, in which he gave some rather forthright answers:
On the status of the The Hobbit at this point, here’s what McKellen said:
“The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon… Then they’ll be budgeted, and then they’ll be cast. And they’ll be going when they’ve always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April.”
That got him onto talking about how he finds del Toro and Jackson as filmmakers:
“Guillermo even told me at one point, ‘We’re going to film for 383 days.’ He’s got that artistic autism! Jackson’s the same; they’re very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they’ve so much in common. They both can’t stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they’re both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo’s one of the most brilliant men I’ve ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!”
It really sounds like del Toro and Jackson are as good to work alongside as it is watching their final products… Moving on from his opinions of the director and producer of The Hobbit, McKellen laid down a pretty disappointing piece of info for those hoping we would see some of the characters from LOTR make appearances/cameos in The Hobbit:
“Unfortunately, there won’t be many of the actors going back… unless they’re going to put masks on and be disguised as dwarves! Andy Serkis is, at the moment, I think, the only other actor who’s doing this film.”
Of course, McKellen isn’t del Toro, Jackson or anyone else truly “in the know” about what the ins-and-outs of the story is, what characters are returning and so forth… but I would trust his judgment at this point (even though he failed to mention Hugo Weaving returning as Lord Elrond). I wouldn’t totally rule out cameos from known and loved LOTR characters, but I’m certainly not expecting them (or at least, as many of them as people are hoping for).
Continue reading about Ian McKellen’s role as Magneto…
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21 Comments
first!!!!!
I’m actually surprised he still slightly cares bout magneto
I would have refused ages ago
awsome news on both fronts he is a standalone actor that brings body and soul to each charector he portrays.
I can’t see him being involved in magneto considering it will be done pre-xmen but you never know.
As for the hobbit, i look forward to it and hope it’s on the same scale as lotr.
Either way, we know Ian will do a great job.
I think it makes sense that we would only get cameos from the LOTR cast. They just don’t have a place in The Hobbit, and those movies are going to have to stand on their own, apart from LOTR.
Still…sad. But glad to see the McKellen is keeping his chin up.
McKellen was PERFECTLY cast as both Gandalf and Magneto. I really don’t see how they could have cast anyone differently. I love that he is returning as Gandalf and I am looking forward to that movie. I think I might need to re-read The Hobbit as it has been YEARS since I’ve read it. I need tobe back up to speed on that when it comes out as I was on the LOTR trilogy.
I think he could be in Magneto in a modern day Magneto telling the story of his life kind of way. Have him at the start, the end, and every once in a while in the story have him say a line or two and it’d be perfect.
Whoa!! someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I think its Mckellan still likes Gandalf It seems to me he’s still open to magneto Hey Vic are you gonna ban this rory idiot or what?
Rory
what are you talking about? We all love Ian mckellen. lol
@Vin
I’ve deleted it. However if I ban that commenter you may have a problem since his comment was posted from the same IP address as yours, bud.
So either you’re being cute or someone posted a comment from your computer. I hope it’s the latter and not the former.
Vic
Ok I’m going to say this in a non-gay way but I’m preparing for the worst. Vic – I love u brother!
no way Vic, I was out when that rory jerk did that. It might have been one of my roomies though because I had my computer logged on to screenrant and there really f’ed up like that. If this was the case I aologize, please dont ban me!
@all of screenrant
I would like to apologize for that Rory dude as I just found out it was one of my roommates screwing around on my computer.
I’d also like to say that I adore Vic just like everyone else. I’d like to apologize if anybody else had been offended by My roommates coments. Screenrant is a phenomenal site and is my first stop for movie news. Its also the first place I go to get my no BS movie news. Again Vic,I’m really sorry epecially to you because my roommate mentioned you in his tirade That’s the last time I suggest screenrant to any movie buffs for a while. ps I told him u were like the head honcho a while back i guess that’s why he did mentioned you Vic as much as I would hate it, if u feel the need to ban me than i totally and completely understand. Hope 2 still be here when Avatar comes so all of us can debate!!
Thats awasome The Hobbit should kick ass!!!
@Vin
No worries – it did seem way out in left field. I suggest you put a screensaver with password protection on your PC.
Vic
yeah im def going to do that asap
LOTR characters aside from gollum, gandalf hve no place in the hobbit… so im glad they are not going to do a “wolverine” type thing and just throw in cameos for the sake of it
im all for a magneto solo film, such an interesting character, and I like the idea of having ian mckellan talk us thorugh it every now and then with flashbacks
perhaps this could be done while playing chess with someone (mr sinister in disguise or gambit etc perhaps) and have it end with him getting his powers back (a la X3)
I never liked McKellen as Magneto. There’s no doubt he’s a fantastic actor but compared to how Magneto looks in the comics, McKellen just never looked the part to me. I’m just saying he physically never looked like Magneto but his acting as Magneto was good.
I’m excited about him returning as Gandalf. That’s a part he was perfect for. I just don’t understand why people actually think he was the right choice for Magneto.
Wow, ORI, you’re the first person I have ever heard that didn’t like McKellen as Magneto. I thought his onscreen presence was very strong and I can’t think of ANYONE better to play him.
To me, it’s a no-brainer, the answer is BOTH, even if McKellen shows up in only one minute of Magneto. I’m not surprised most characters from LOTR won’t be back for The Hobbit. If it doesn’t involve them, why are the characters there?
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