Ian McKellen reveals big detail about new Lord of the Rings movies

Sir Ian McKellen is set to return as Gandalf in the new Lord of the Rings movies – and, according to the star, we can definitely expect more than one.

It’s been more than 20 years since Return of the King. While we’ve had The Hobbit films and Amazon’s Rings of Power series, nothing has reached the highs of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Well, Middle-earth is coming back to the big screen. While The War of the Rohirrim anime movie is hitting cinemas this Christmas, Jackson has returned to produce a new project: The Hunt for Gollum.

Andy Serkis is reprising the titular role and taking the lead as director, but it’s unclear if Viggo Mortensen will also return as Aragorn or if Orlando Bloom will play Legolas.

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However, while it’s still to be confirmed, McKellen seems keen to play Gandalf again – and if he does, it’ll be in two more movies.

“All I know is they called me up, they said these films were going to happen, they were mainly going to be about Gollum… and there would be a script arriving sometime in [2025],” he said during an appearance on This Morning.

“And then I’ll judge whether I want to go back… but I would. I’d love to go back to New Zealand, and I also don’t like the idea of anyone else playing Gandalf.”

McKellen then revealed he’s been told it’s “two films… I probably shouldn’t be saying that, but I haven’t read the script and I don’t even know where it’ll be filmed.”

The story is expected to follow Gollum’s experiences with Sauron in Mordor, before attempting to make his way to the Shire. As per Tolkien’s appendices, Gandalf sends Aragorn on a mission to find him. It’s sort of a prequel (most of it could unfold between Gandalf giving Frodo the One Ring and returning to the Shire).

In the meantime, if you’ve been watching Rings of Power, another person may already be playing Gandalf if we’re right about the Stranger.

Before Episode 5, check out our recaps of Rings of Power Season 2 Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, and Episode 4. You can also read our guides on Morgoth’s origin, Forodwaith, Tom Bombadil, and Círdan the Shipwright.