In case you didn’t hear, there’s a new ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie “now in the early stages of script development,” which is anticipated for release in late 2026. The film, produced by Peter Jackson, will “explore storylines yet to be told”.
Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf, an iconic movie character, has confirmed that he’s been asked to reprise the character in this new film, which according to Deadline is supposed to start production next year.
McKellen told The Big Issue: “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.”
The 85-year-old actor, who recently fell off stage during a play at London’s West End, says he has no plans to reitre, and added: “When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So, they better be quick.”
Andy Serkis is set to star and direct ‘The Hunt for Gollum,’ and there have been whispers about Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom potentially coming back to the franchise for this film.
The first three ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies, directed by Jackson, garnered immense praise and were commercial behemoths. Each installment ended up with a slew of Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture win for 2003’s ‘The Return of the King.’ Jackson followed those up with a trilogy of ‘Hobbit’ movies, which were less successful and put the movie franchise in hibernation for over a decade now.
Serkis, a truly underrated motion capture acting pioneer, especially for his work on the ‘Planet of the Apes’ movie, has directed three films in his career (“Breathe,” “Mowgli” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”), but I would have hoped for Jackson to helm this film instead of him. Alas, we’ll have Serkis directing and hopefully he’ll get the job done.