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McKellen Eager to Play Gandalf in The Hobbit

Film 'likely' to happen, with or without Peter Jackson directing

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 15, 2007 9:05 PM CDT

(Newser) – Ian McKellen wants to play Gandalf again if The Hobbit film ever gets greenlit, the Los Angeles Times reports. A bitter royalties battle with New Line Cinema may stop director Peter Jackson from directing the flick, but no matter: He told McKellen to "play... Read full story »

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(NEWSER) - Peter Jackson has resolved his lawsuit with New Line and plans to helm two much-hyped Hobbit films, the first due out in 2010, according to an Entertainment Weekly interview with MGM chief Harry Sloan. Jackson will co-write and may direct one or both films—unless he and New Line's Bob Shaye pick someone else. "I don’t want to tell you what’s legally in the contract, but we wouldn’t" hire an outside director. More»

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(NEWSER) - An early Christmas gift for Lord of the Rings fans: The first official trailer for the first part of Peter Jackson's two-part adaptation of The Hobbit has been released, reports Wired . An Unexpected Journey, one of 2012's most hotly anticipated releases, stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and will be out next December. The trailer reveals plenty about Jackson's plans for his second outing in Middle Earth, and makes it clear that new material he has written based on JRR Tolkein's other writings won't be saved for the second movie, notes Cinema Blend . More»

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(AP) - Peter Jackson's two-film adaptation of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit has release dates. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released Dec. 14, 2012; its sequel, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is to be released Dec. 13, 2013. The films have suffered repeated delays over studio funding problems, a threatened actors' boycott , and ulcer surgery for Jackson. Shot consecutively, they began filming in March in New Zealand. The 3D films are prequels to Jackson's Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy and star Martin Freeman, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, and Orlando Bloom. (Click to read more about why we think these films could be cursed .) More»

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(NEWSER) - A woman who wanted to be an extra in The Hobbit was told by the casting crew on the New Zealand production that while she was short enough to play a hobbit, she wasn't white enough. "The casting manager basically said they weren't having anybody who wasn't pale-skinned," the woman, who is of Pakistani descent, told the Dominion Post. She waited for 3 hours with hundreds of other aspiring extras before being told there was little point in her being there. More»

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(NEWSER) - The protests full of people who wanted to keep The Hobbit in New Zealand apparently worked: The country’s government worked out a deal with Warner Bros. to ensure the Peter Jackson-directed endeavor will film there. A labor dispute threatened to kill filming two months ago, and Jackson threatened to move the movie if need be. Instead, the government increased financial incentives for the film, and will clarify laws covering film industry workers, the Telegraph reports. More»

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McKellen Eager to Play Gandalf in The Hobbit

Film 'likely' to happen, with or without Peter Jackson directing

Peter Jackson • New Line Cinema • Ian McKellen

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More Newser Stories

Jackson to Helm Hobbit

His Rings lawsuit resolved, Jackson embarks on prequel

Hobbit Trailer Has Arrived

Long-awaited trailer reveals much about An Unexpected Journey

First Hobbit Movie Hits Theaters Dec. 2012

Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' will be split into two films

Wanna-Be Film Extra Told She's Too Dark to Be Hobbit

Race row hits New Zealand production

New Zealand Will Keep The Hobbit

Government works out a deal with Warner Bros.

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