Ian McKellen reveals in a recent interview that he has been approached to play Gandalf again in The Hunt for Gollum. This hardly comes as a surprise given the movie is set during the events of The Lord of the Rings and made by the same team. McKellen also had indicated once the movie was announced that were he still alive, he’d been keen to come back.
Now we just need to wait and see if Viggo Mortensen will return. Though, that one may be tricker given that Viggo has aged quote a bit since he played Aragorn. McKellen doesn’t look that much different and is supposed to look older than McKellen really is anyway.
McKellen revealed the information when speaking to The Big Issue magazine. Transcript below by Deadline.
“Enthusiasm for The Lord of the Rings shows no sign of abating … I can’t tell you any more than that. I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him.”
“When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So, they better be quick.”
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Interesting that he pluralises films. At this point I feel like the studio are already scraping the barrel by making a film out of a section of the story that happened off-screen. Yes, there is a seeming demand for more Tolkien stories. However, fans need to also realise that there isn’t much more we can get from the man himself. The Hunt for Gollum is a real event, but since Tolkien didn’t detail it out, the movie is pure fan fiction. Then again, so is The Rings of Power and there are fans loving that. I’m not sure I’m one of them currently
I’d say, for those desperate for more stories from Tolkien, pick up the books. Once you have read all there is to read about Middle-earth, you may wish for more faithful adaptations.
Either way, making this film and recasting Gandalf and Aragorn would be weird. However, it may be weird to see old Aragorn attempting to be a spry 86 again.
What do you think of his comments as Ian McKellen says he’s been approached to play Gandalf again in The Hunt for Gollum? Thoughts below as per usual.
