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Ian McKellen has been asked to return as Gandalf in Serkis' The Search for Gollum

ManaByte

Gold Member

“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 tells this week’s Big Issue. “When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”

The movie is about Gandalf sending Strider on a quest to find Gollum, so it makes sense they'd want him to be in it.
 

Bojji

Member
Bring Viggo back as well.

He looks good, with some makeup and de-aging tech it will look great:

GettyImages-1447639303.jpg
 

Hudo

Member
Didn't Sir Ian McKellen say that it was horrible experience doing The Hobbit movies because of the amount of green screen he had to film against? I.e. that he fucking hated it to not act directly with the other actors on stage but rather pretend to be talking to the others because his stuff gets edited in or something?

If Serkis can organize the shoot in a way that allows for the actors to be on the same set at the same time, maybe Sir Ian would do it.
 
Didn't Sir Ian McKellen say that it was horrible experience doing The Hobbit movies because of the amount of green screen he had to film against? I.e. that he fucking hated it to not act directly with the other actors on stage but rather pretend to be talking to the others because his stuff gets edited in or something?

If Serkis can organize the shoot in a way that allows for the actors to be on the same set at the same time, maybe Sir Ian would do it.

He felt miserable while shooting the Bag End scenes alone and in his own words, he got over it. He had to talk to tennis balls which answered back (the dwarves were simultaneously playing in another room) and that was twisted into "he hates green screen". It was put on the Hobbit Appendices. It's not a green screen problem, it's an isolation problem on a specific set. A theater actor wouldn't complain about props, weird sets and responding to box speakers.

He talked about how the technology was invented as they were shooting the movie, so add the pressure and betrayed expectations to that. Now I doubt the Gollum movie will be as groundbreaking.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
Didn't Sir Ian McKellen say that it was horrible experience doing The Hobbit movies because of the amount of green screen he had to film against? I.e. that he fucking hated it to not act directly with the other actors on stage but rather pretend to be talking to the others because his stuff gets edited in or something?

If Serkis can organize the shoot in a way that allows for the actors to be on the same set at the same time, maybe Sir Ian would do it.

That was done because the movie was filmed in 3D and the forced perspective they used in the LOTR movies with the Hobbits doesn't work with 3D cameras. They won't be doing that in this movie.
 

Hudo

Member
He felt miserable while shooting the Bag End scenes alone and in his own words, he got over it. He had to talk to tennis balls which answered back (the dwarves were simultaneously playing in another room) and that was twisted into "he hates green screen". It was put on the Hobbit Appendices. It's not a green screen problem, it's an isolation problem on a specific set. A theater actor wouldn't complain about props, weird sets and responding to box speakers.

He talked about how the technology was invented as they were shooting the movie, so add the pressure and betrayed expectations to that. Now I doubt the Gollum movie will be as groundbreaking.

That was done because the movie was filmed in 3D and the forced perspective they used in the LOTR movies with the Hobbits doesn't work with 3D cameras. They won't be doing that in this movie.
Well. I wouldn't mind seeing him as Gandalf again!
 

Tams

Member
I like the first film. But next two feel bloated. Film one should end at the escape of the elven jail in the barrels. Film 2 should have done Smaug and the 5 armies.

Thankfully, by bloating it, it does mean that there's plenty of footage for different cuts to be made, and fans made them they have.
 

dsp

Member



The movie is about Gandalf sending Strider on a quest to find Gollum, so it makes sense they'd want him to be in it.

I don't know the story but if they're going to have Ian McKellen act (not sure if there will ever be another person better than him for that role) then I hope the scenes aren't filled with a lot of green screen stuff. I remember seeing him getting quite depressed over the constant indoor green room CGI shooting for The Hobbit. For the sake of both cinema as an art and the health of crews and casts involved, it'd probably be best if they toned down on the constant cg stuff. Though I guess they've improved a lot of that stuff by having backgrounds and things casted onto walls or just giant screens or whatever now, last I remember anyway.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I see Hobbit in theaters and kept hearing like ghost voices in my ear the whole movie talking over the sound of a crackling fire. Asked my girlfriend at the time if she was hearing the same thing and she said no.

It got worse and worse, then on the way home I was still hearing it all.

Turned out I had a 105 degrees (US dumb units) fever lol
 
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Rat Rage

Member
What is this based on? Is this a completely new, non-canon story? I can't find much information about it...
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
What is this based on? Is this a completely new, non-canon story? I can't find much information about it...

In the books there's 17 years between Bilbo's birthday and Gandalf returning to Frodo. In eight years of that time Gandalf tasks Strider in tracking and finding Gollum. It's briefly outlined in Appendix B. Tolkien intended for it to be a chapter in Fellowship, and that text is included in Unfinished Tales.
 

Bulletzen72

Member
In the books there's 17 years between Bilbo's birthday and Gandalf returning to Frodo. In eight years of that time Gandalf tasks Strider in tracking and finding Gollum. It's briefly outlined in Appendix B. Tolkien intended for it to be a chapter in Fellowship, and that text is included in Unfinished Tales.
Which is mental!
Because in the films it never gave the viewers the impression that Gandalf fucked off for 17 years between putting the ring in an envelope and sealing it with wax "Keep it secret. Keep it safe"- to returning after a wee visit to a library and returning to Frodo - "Is it secret? Is it safe??
I got the impression it was what? A year? At most?
Now they are going to make two films of what happened in that time?
Fuck off!
The Hobbit shite all over again!
Let it be!
Make something new! Make the Dan Simmons Hyperion cantos or some other property! Pisses me off!
 
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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins



The movie is about Gandalf sending Strider on a quest to find Gollum, so it makes sense they'd want him to be in it.

This film is a terrible idea.

One of the reasons the Hobbit movies failed is because they stretched out a 300 page novel into three films. It meant the writers had to go into fan fiction mode and create new characters and plot points to fill the gaps.

This is arguably worse. They're going to do another prequel not based on a book, but based on a section of Appendix A in LOTR!
 

John Marston

GAF's very own treasure goblin
I worked out next to him and he's much more white than grey.

And from noticing in the showers he's still gay.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I worked out next to him and he's much more white than grey.

And from noticing in the showers he's still gay.

"Gandalf? Yes... that was what they used to call me. Gandalf the Gray. That was my name. *I* am Gandalf the Swollen. And I come back to you now - at the turn of the tide, to get some serious gains."

7cWjsXq.jpeg
 

Toots

Gold Member
If you think Hollywood is too inbred and creatively bankrupt, wait for the day producers learn edo tensei.
 

Oberstein

Member
I love Ian McKellen, but I don't like the idea at all.

It was the same with Patrick Stewart. When he announced he was doing another Star Trek series, everyone was happy and... it was a disaster to see him dragging himself from scene to scene. For a lead role, he was too old and it was obvious.
It'll be worse with Gandalf, where he needs to have a minimum of energy.

So no, I hope it doesn't happen.
 

GreenAlien

Member
Let these old actors rest and give some fresh ones a chance.

Sure, they will probably be replaced with diversity hires, but Arwen is going to be a girlboss and the main character anyway, so who cares...
 
While I love Ian as Gandalf, I fear it would produce the same effect as Christopher Lee in The Hobbit, he looked like he was going to exhale his soul in every scene lmao.
 

Diddy X

Member
Which is mental!
Because in the films it never gave the viewers the impression that Gandalf fucked off for 17 years between putting the ring in an envelope and sealing it with wax "Keep it secret. Keep it safe"- to returning after a wee visit to a library and returning to Frodo - "Is it secret? Is it safe??
I got the impression it was what? A year? At most?
Now they are going to make two films of what happened in that time?
Fuck off!
The Hobbit shite all over again!
Let it be!
Make something new! Make the Dan Simmons Hyperion cantos or some other property! Pisses me off!

It felt like a couple days to me lol
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Didn't Sir Ian McKellen say that it was horrible experience doing The Hobbit movies because of the amount of green screen he had to film against? I.e. that he fucking hated it to not act directly with the other actors on stage but rather pretend to be talking to the others because his stuff gets edited in or something?
It's probably much, much quicker to record against green screen though, so I can imagine he might have softened his stance a little.

If Serkis can organize the shoot in a way that allows for the actors to be on the same set at the same time, maybe Sir Ian would do it.
“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 tells this week’s Big Issue. “When? I don’t know. What the script is? It’s not written yet. So they better be quick!”
Sounds like he's ready to sign on either way.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
It could have been worse, like fighting at Helm's Deep alongside Aragorn.

Which was only changed after it leaked to Aint it Cool News and Jackson and Tyler were flooded with death threats from the Talkback denizens. They still filmed it and one shot remains in the movie.

The earlier drafts were even worse. Originally Arwen joins the Fellowship at Rohan and Gimli and Legolas walk in on her and Aragorn fucking in the Glittering Caves.
 

Oberstein

Member
Which was only changed after it leaked to Aint it Cool News and Jackson and Tyler were flooded with death threats from the Talkback denizens. They still filmed it and one shot remains in the movie.

The earlier drafts were even worse. Originally Arwen joins the Fellowship at Rohan and Gimli and Legolas walk in on her and Aragorn fucking in the Glittering Caves.

This Arwen is definitely a bad influence on the Fellowship.

629f3b9e765c7.jpeg


All kidding aside, it's a good thing it was contained back then.
 

GateofD

Neo Member
Looks like they're desperate after the panning of Rings of Power and bringing in star power to bring come credit back.
Like with RDJ for Dr.Doom, like I'm as hyped as anyone else, but disney marvel is definitely desperate to resuscitate their marvel films after a mess of whatever phrase they're on.
 

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
What is this based on? Is this a completely new, non-canon story? I can't find much information about it...

There is a mention in the appendices where Aragorn under the direction of Gandalf goes and finds and captures Gollum and gets information out of him about what he told the dark lord.
 
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