Official: Ian McKellen Is Back As Gandalf

We all knew it was going to happen. Though the actor’s own message on his official website suggests it wasn’t quite the foregone conclusion we might have thought

Ian McKellen will be back as Gandalf in The Hobbit , it has now been confirmed. The new follows hot on the heels of confirmation that Andy Sirkis will definitely back as (a motion captured) Gollum.

While it has seemed likely that McKellen would be back for months, the actor posted a message on hios official website which shows that the casting was not always a certainty – but which also confirms that filming will have started by February at the latest:

“All I had to decide was what to do with the time that is given me.

“I’m 71 and fit: though at my age who knows what accident is 'round the next corner? For a year or more, I have been arranging my professional commitments around the possibility of The Hobbit films starting at almost anytime. We brought the Waiting for Godot tour of Australia to New Zealand early 2010, assuming I would stay on to start shooting soon after. Then there was yet another delay: but in Wellington I met with Guillermo del Toro and later read his script for Part One, written with the LOTR writing team. It was true to the style, the fun and the romance of the trilogy.

“When Peter Jackson, already producing, resumed the director’s chair, he kept me in touch with developments. A second screenplay was sent over, on the understanding that I would not talk about what I read in it.

“After the ruckus over trade union expectations and unlikely rumours of filming outside New Zealand, suddenly crucial casting was announced, plus a start date in February 2011. Martin Freeman as Bilbo sounds perfect. As my agent continued to negotiate with Warner Brothers, I kept wondering was Gandalf what I most wanted to do, more than a new play for instance or indeed a new part? Sequels aren’t necessarily as rewarding to act in as their originals.

“Could I let Gandalf go? Would anyone else care if I did? Elsewhere, does anyone care that Michael Gambon was not the first to play Dumbledore?

“The deciding negotiation was not about money but about dates. Gandalf is needed on set over the next 18 months but with sizeable breaks when I can work on other projects. My worry that I could not easily escape from Middle Earth was lifted.

“I am happy to say I start filming in Wellington on February 21 2011.”