THE HOBBIT NEWS

Confirmed: Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen Return for 'The Hobbit'

by Alex Billington
January 10, 2011
Source: Deadline, THR

In case you were somehow, in a state of udder madness, worried that Andy Serkis and Sir Ian McKellen, two central actors from the Lord of the Rings series (who we've confirmed numerous times before), wouldn't be returning for Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, you can finally rest easy because it's official. Deadline reports that Serkis is officially signed on to play Gollum (aka Smeagol once) again, performing the motion capture parts of the creature that Bilbo encounters. And THR has also confirmed that Sir Ian McKellen is officially signed and good to go as the lovable wizard Gandalf. Happy to hear that both will be back for The Hobbit!

In addition to Serkis and McKellen, other confirmed returning cast members include Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee as Saruman and Ian Holm as an older Bilbo, as well as an impressive new cast lead by Martin Freeman. I'm glad the cast is finally coming together and Jackson is getting things set, because obviously The Hobbit can't get here soon enough. Last week we wrote that Warner Bros will paying almost all of the $500 million budget since MGM is still bankrupt. Pre-production is obviously already underway in New Zealand and production is slated to start in just a few more months. We pretty much have almost all of the cast lined up for The Hobbit, but I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty more news over these next few months.

It's great to hear that both are finally 100% signed on, but honestly, I probably would've boycotted the film if they at least didn't bring those two back, so it's not surprising they're returning. Then again, as a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, it brings a smile to my face knowing we'll see them up on the big screen again come 2012.

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