Gandalf’s Return

The Hobbit, produced by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, will begin filming in New Zealand in July with Sir Ian McKellen once again taking the role of Gandalf the Grey. The film, and its proposed sequel, will be prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Oscar winner Jackson. Writing on his official website, Sir Ian reports that shooting of the two films is expected to take more than a year, with Mexican-born director Guillermo Del Toro “now living in Wellington, close to the Jacksons’ and the studio in Miramar”. McKellen added that the script was still being worked on, saying “the first draft is crammed with old and new friends, again on a quest in Middle Earth”.