This one is more for my Mom then anyone else, though she may have some thoughts on why many of the characters from The Lord of the Ring are popping up in the casting for the prequel…I for one don’t know and I bet we’ll have to wait…
from Dark Horizons:
Serkis, McKellen Finally Set For “Hobbit”
By Garth Franklin Monday January 10th 2011 11:13PM
It’s official: Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen, who played Gollum and Gandalf respectively in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will reprise their roles in “The Hobbit” and its sequel reports Heat Vision.
The pair join the already confirmed returning cast members Elijah Wood and Cate Blanchett, while an offer is officially out to Orlando Bloom though it’s unsure if he will be back.
Talking about his involvement on his official site, McKellen says the main issue of contention wasn’t money but about scheduling. As a result, McKellen will pop in and out of the set over the next 18 months but with sizeable breaks in between.
Christopher Lee as the evil Saruman and Ian Holm as an older version of Bilbo Baggins are also said to be in talks to return. Shooting kicks off February 14th in New Zealand with McKellen set to start filming his scenes on February 21st.
Awesome! It’s really nice to see the original actors returning. It wouldn’t be the same without them.
My only issue is that a lot of the characters that they play weren’t in the original story because it takes place like 60 years before The Lord of the Ring.
Really? I didn’t read any of the books – I’ve heard they’ve mostly been true to the books, I hope they stay that way.
I don’t either, but I know from my Mother who has read them…and for the most part 80% of LOTR was true to the book…so we shall see!