LORD OF THE RINGS Star Drops Massive Hint About Return to Franchise
By Movieguide® Contributor
Ian McKellen says that returning to the LORD OF THE RINGS franchise is possible.
The actor, who played Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s trilogy, discussed possibly continuing his role in an interview with Big Issue magazine.
“I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him,” McKellen said. “When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”
The 85-year-old has recently faced some health struggles which he is fighting to overcome. While on London’s Noël Coward Theatre stage performing for “Player Kings,” McKellan fell.
“I’m left feeling weak physically, which I’m doing exercises for. And, of course, it’s emotional. We all trip all our lives, it’s just when you get to my age you can’t always get up again,” he said of the accident.
Another LORD OF THE RINGS is in the works.
“In May, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav shared that the company is ‘now in the early stages of script development’ for new LORD OF THE RINGS films which are anticipated to have a 2026 release date and will ‘explore storylines yet to be told,’” The Hollywood Reporter said. “The first film, from New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, will be called LORD OF THE RINGS: THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM (working title), with Andy Serkis set to star and direct the feature.”
Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the original trilogy, is open to reprising his role as well, as Movieguide® reported:
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the original trilogy, revealed what would enable him to return.
“I haven’t read a script. So I don’t know,” he said. “The script is the most important thing to me unless I’m broke, I have no money and I’m lucky to get any job. So it depends.”
In May, Mortensen discussed what it would look like for him to reprise his role with GQ…
Mortensen responded: “Sure. I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot. I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.”
THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM is currently slated for a 2026 release.
