The word on the Web is that director Guillermo del Toro would like to maintain as many cast members from the “Lord of the Rings” films as possible for the upcoming big-screen adaptation of “The Hobbit” and its sequel, which he recently sealed the deal to direct back to back.
“I want to be very clear about this. I am not going to recast any actor that is willing and able to work with us,” he told MTV News, according this post on the MTV Movies Blog. ”It would be my hope to bring back the same actors to play the parts. The casting on the trilogy was perfect.”
The intriguing post also speculates that some “LOTR” characters who don’t appear in “The Hobbit,” such as Aragorn, Frodo and Samwise, might have a shot at a role in the sequel, which will reportedly bridge the 60-year gap between “The Hobbit” and “LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Hmmm.
But wait, there’s more. The Associated Press reported today that Sir Ian McKellen is going to reprise the role of Gandalf, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, in “The Hobbit.”
Empire magazine’s Web site quoted McKellen as saying that del Toro told him he would again be playing the wizard again, according to AP.
“He confirmed that I would be reprising the role,” the AP quoted the magazine as quoting McKellen as saying.”Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.”
(And congratulations on your mental acuity if you were able to follow that attribution.)
But McKellen’s publicist says hold your horses - or reign in Shadowfax, as it were - because the ink isn’t dry on the deal just yet.
“Of course he wants to do it, but nothing’s been agreed or signed,” Clair Dobbs said.
In an MTV News Q&A, del Toro seemed certain that McKellen and Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in “LOTR,” would get on board. But he pondered whether age would be a factor in preventing Ian Holm from returning as “The Hobbit” protagonist Bilbo Baggins.
Check out this excerpt:
MTV: Will Ian Holm return as Bilbo?
Del Toro: [Holm] certainly is the paragon we aspire to. He will be involved in some manner, I’m sure. But at his age … it’s too early to tell. We are just in the early stages. It’s too early to make commitments of that sort. We prefer to let the screenplay and the way the character comes to life guide us in the casting. I have many people in mind. Anything [else] I say will be used against me in a court of law. [Laughs.]
MTV: Andy Serkis [Gollum] and Ian McKellan [Gandalf] are involved though, yes?
Del Toro: We can be pretty sure that we’re getting back Andy, Ian, [composer] Howard Shore and [conceptual designer] John Howe. I am going to supplement the team of designers with other choices. People that come from the comic book worlds, not in the superhero sense, but the darker, more European type of comics. We’re going to enhance the team of artists that conceptualized the first trilogy to create this earlier, more golden time and the way it starts to get tarnished.
In this illuminating interview, which I consider a must-read for J.R.R. Tolkien fans, del Toro revealed that the concept for “The Hobbit” sequel is still very vague. He said they’re going to start out writing the screenplay for “The Hobbit” and see how much of it can be contained in one movie before going on to pen the sequel.
He also revealed that he won’t be attempting to precisely duplicate the vision of Middle Earth created by Peter Jackson, who directed “LOTR” and is executive producing the new films. But del Toro said he is “very comfortable living within the walls of the world he created.”
It’s not much to go on, but hey, del Toro was only named director last week. The long road to the release of these highly anticipated movies will surely be a closely watched one.
-BAM
