'Lord Of The Rings' Stars Returning To Middle-Earth For 'The Hobbit'

Access Hollywood - June 14, 2009 10:19 AM PDT
Story photo: 'Lord Of The Rings' Stars Returning To Middle-Earth For 'The Hobbit'Ian McKellen as Gandalf in 'The Return of the King'<br />New Line CinemaAccess Hollywood

LONDON, UK -- Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of "The Hobbit" will have some familiar faces.

"Lord of the Rings" trilogy actors Andy Serkis (Gollum), Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Hugo Weaving (Elrond) will all reprise their roles, the director revealed on BBC Radio's Simon Mayo program.

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"The Hobbit," based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien, is set before the events of the author's "LOTR" series, and follows Frodo Baggins' uncle, Bilbo, and his adventures in acquiring the one Ring.

Del Toro intends on splitting the book into two films, and revealed on the program that Gandalf's abrupt departure from Bilbo and the dwarves' quest against the dragon Smaug - not narrated in the novel - will appear on screen as a means of further linking the film to Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" movies.

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"There is a whole other chapter, so to speak, which is the comings and going of Gandalf which are dealt with," del Toro said. "People that know the lore know that Gandalf was delayed with a crisis... with a character that is very shady called the Necromancer that proves to be Sauron."

In the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, Sauron - a rival wizard to Gandalf - was played by Sala Baker. The director didn't say if he would appear in the upcoming films.

The first installment of "The Hobbit" is due in December 2011.

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comments 1-10 of 12  |< newest · < newer · older > · oldest >|  hide comments · post a comment
  • Carly K
    It's about time and the director is an excellent visionary to do it.
    report abuseposted August 31, 2009 3:20 PM PDT
  • memnoch666shedevil
    Sauron was indeed Sala Baker; Christopher Lee played Saruman, one of the white wizards who had been tasked to keep the Ring from Sauron who had created the Ring originally. Saruman was seduced by Sauron's powers and became evil and tried to get and keep the Ring for himself.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 9:03 PM PDT
  • sandra d
    I thought Suron was played by Christopher Lee.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 3:15 PM PDT
  • sandra d
    I thought Suron was played by Christopher Lee.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 3:15 PM PDT
  • Confucius08
    No Peter Jackson??? I'm seriously worried.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 12:59 PM PDT
  • Clifford
    (cont) experience and facing the great goblin in the caves is quite a thrilling moment. The Battle of the Five Armies, the first encounter with Gollum - there are scary moments in the book. "But they are already there. We are not inventing or trying to do horror for horror's sake we are trying to imbue those moments of intensity in the book into the movie."
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 12:53 PM PDT
  • Clifford
    Just looked and del Toro directed both Hellboy movies and Mimic...this should be a great movie then. I found this on IMDB: The Hobbit film will be scary, says Guillermo del Toro By David Bentley on Jun 11, 09 10:34 AM "The intensity of the scenes of the Hobbit will have the intensity they had in the book when I was a kid reading them. "The spiders of Mirkwood are a pretty ha
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 12:52 PM PDT
  • mtinervin1
    I can't believe that Jackson isn't doing this movie. I'm stil going to see it but I bet it won't have the same feel as LoTRs movies. Two differnt directors can give the same movie a differnt feel, and Jacksons LoTR is an awesome movie but if it was done by Guillermo del Toro it would have been differnt. The Hobbit should be done with Jackson so the feels the same.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 12:50 PM PDT
  • Nina
    Sauron was a bit more than a wizard... the story's a tad too complex for this gossip column.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 12:48 PM PDT
  • Clifford
    Well the way Jackson murdered LotR's true storyline from the books, I think it'll be good to have someone else do The Hobbit. And the fact that they are going to cover Gandalf's adventures while he was away from the group will be nice. I don't really know much at all about del Toro, but I will watch the movie. I figure it won't be worse than Jackson.
    report abuseposted June 14, 2009 12:44 PM PDT
comments 1-10 of 12  |< newest · < newer · older > · oldest >| 

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