WASHINGTON: The Tolkien’s ‘middle earth’ saga is incomplete without the wizard ‘Gandalf’ and when it comes to the reel world, Gandalf is incomplete without Sir Ian McKellen.
The 78-year-old actor, who has portrayed ‘Gandalf The Grey’ in six Peter Jackson movies based on Tolkien’s epic fantasy novels ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’, has said that he’s open to reprising his role as the titular character for the small screen on whatever Amazon’s project will look like, reports Contactmusic.com.
While speaking on a leading UK Radio show, Mckellen noted, “What do you mean, another Gandalf? I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it? Gandalf is over 7,000 years old, so I’m not too old.”
Amazon announced in November that it’s given the series a multi-season production commitment.
Set in Middle Earth, the television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding The Fellowship of the Ring.
The deal also includes a potential additional spin-off series.
‘Lord of the Rings’ is cultural phenomenon as readers hail the fantasy series as one of the best books ever written. The book went on to be adapted as three movies titled ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, ‘The Two Towers’ and ‘The Return of the King’.
The movies proved out to be blockbuster at the box-office, as the movies went out to gross over USD 2.917 billion on a production budget of USD 281 million.
The final film in the series, ‘The Return of the King,’ was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won all 11 of its Academy Award nominations including Best Picture.