Oct 13 2009 Finally Getting Around to Making Some Sort of 'Hobbit' Movie Next Spring

Man, how long have we been waiting for a live-action Hobbit movie? Ever since we pretended to read The Hobbit for a middle school book report? Since we saw the Lord of the Rings movies? Since we again pretended we'd read The Hobbit after the Lord of the Rings movies came out? Regardless, it's been a while. So you'll be glad to know Sir Ian McKellen claims the Hobbit films will finally begin shooting in the spring:

The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon. Then they'll be budgeted, and then they'll be cast. And they'll be going when they've always said they would be, which is next spring – March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, 'We're going to film for 383 days.' He's got that artistic autism! Jackson's the same; they're very, very, very alike.

Hey, I think maybe I'm like Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson too! No one has ever quite said I have "artistic autism," but I have been called "creatively retarded"!

Mar 26 2008 McKellen Confirms He'd Don Robe, Beard, Long Hair Again

Responding to some questions on his "E-Post" (apparently what old guys are calling blogs now), Sir Ian McKellen has announced he would indeed return to Middle Earth for The Hobbit if the opportunity comes.

Q: ...Will you again be our Gandalf in "The Hobbit" now that the deal is settled?

A: Yes I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor.

Continuing the question & answer section, McKellen went on to respond to the second most pertinent query regarding the fantasy saga: When shooting Lord of the Rings, all of the key actors totally paired off into gay couples, right? Shockingly, McKellen denied such gossip, claiming these "straight" actors had "girlfriends", and blaming the rumors on "the fevered imagination of slashers."

If you ask me, his deft use of the term "slasher" asks the more pressing question: Sir Ian reads gay fan fiction?

E-Post: Correspondence with Ian McKellen [McKellen.com]