I wouldn’t consider THE HOBBIT to be the most troubled production ever, but it’s hardly been smooth sailing. Lawsuits, bad blood, and when things seem to get sorted, a bankrupt studio.
Writer-producer Peter Jackson recently addressed and downplayed all the rumors, and the first movie apparently still has a release date planned for 2012, but returning champion wizard Sir Ian McKellen is just hearing something officially.
“That should have started in April but they didn’t contact me about a contract until a few weeks ago and we’re in negotiation“, McKellen said while Down Under for a stage production of “Waiting for Godot.”
“I’ve read the script, or as much as had been written, they sent it to me, which was very accomplished and good, I thought, and a wonderful part, Gandalf. But I don’t have a contract and I don’t have a start date, so there we are. We’re in a bit of limbo at the moment“.
McKellen did say he would be meeting with Jackson and director Guillermo del Toro about his intended return to Middle Earth while he’s visiting the Southern Hemisphere.
Some fascinating insight into his acting process:
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