Ian McKellan would play Gandalf again, but "they better be quick"
Peter Jackson is planning to go back to Middle Earth with Andy Serkis for 2026's The Hunt For Gollum
Photo: New Line Cinema
Gandalf was already resurrected once, so why can’t Peter Jackson do it again? Ian McKellan seems tepidly on board, although he does have one pretty big caveat. “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,” the legendary actor told Big Issue in a recent interview. “When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”
McKellan is presumably talking about the upcoming, Andy Serkis-directed Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum, which original trilogy director Jackson is on board to produce. That film is currently aiming for a 2026 premiere, although McKellan’s use of the plural “films” is notable. Animated prequel Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim will also charge into the world this December, but Gandalf will not be present for that particular adventure.
The other part of McKellan’s quote is far less fun to consider. The legendary actor is currently 85, and recently broke his wrist and chipped a vertebrae after falling on stage during a June performance of the show Player Kings. “I’m left feeling weak physically, which I’m doing exercises for,” McKellen told Big Issue of the fall. “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.” Still, he’s not planning to slow down any time soon. “I shall just keep at it as long as the legs and the lungs and the mind keep working,” he said in an interview with BBC Radio 4, via The Guardian.
If McKellan does return to Middle Earth, he may have some good company in one Aragorn, son of Arathorn (in addition to Serkis’ Gollum, of course). “Sure,” Viggo Mortensen told GQ when asked if he would consider playing the one true king again. “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… It would be silly to do it otherwise.”