Ian McKellen is interested in returning to play Gandalf in the recently announced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, but there’s an important catch.
McKellen, who previously appeared as Middle-earth’s watchful wizard in the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy as well as The Hobbit trilogy, spoke about a potential return during an interview with The Times. He says he’s heard Gandalf could return but clarifies that there "is no script, there is no offer, there is no plan." His decision to return as the character is up to one thing: whether or not he’s still around.
When asked if he’d be interested in playing Gandalf once more, he plainly said, "If I’m alive."
The 85-year-old McKellen last played the character in 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, meaning it’s been almost a decade since he last put on the wizard’s hat and robe. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, meanwhile, isn’t set to arrive until 2026 at the earliest, with early script work now underway.
McKellen isn't the only actor who's commented on the possibility of returning to the franchise. Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, also recently said he'd be interested in reprising the role for The Hunt for Gollum, but acknowledged that it would have to justify him being two decades older than he was in the previous films.
Details on The Hunt for Gollum are light, but we do know a bit about how the film will explore Andy Serkis’ iconic character. Peter Jackson recently spoke about how the plan is that the movie will involve some content he “didn’t have time to cover” with his original The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
"We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films," he said. "It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from [original author J.R.R. Tolkien."
Don’t confuse The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum with the fan-film of the same name. Warner Bros. actually took down the 15-year-old project upon announcing its continuation for the Lord of the Rings theatrical universe last month. It returned less than 24 hours later. For more on The Lord of the Rings, you can watch our interview with the Rings of Power cast from IGN Live.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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