Sir Ian McKellen Wants to Play Gandalf Again in LotR TV Series

News are swirling around of Amazon picking up the Lord of the Rings and adapting it for television. Obviously, casting characters who will fit the roles as well as the movie characters will be tough. However, one actor believes that he can still play the role. Speaking to Graham Norton in his BBC Radio 2 show, Sir Ian McKellen was asked how he feels if somebody puts on the wizard hat. “What do you mean, another Gandalf?” he says. McKellen continues “I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked, but are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it?”. He then jokingly compared his age (78) to Gandalf’s age (7000), which in comparison he is not too old.

Lord of the Rings TV Adaptation

McKellen may have a point. It is difficult to imagine anyone else playing the role. However, the small screen LotR adaptations are apparently exploring other storylines. Storylines which precede the movie adaptations.

“We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking ‘The Lord of the Rings; fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.” said Sharon Tal Yguado, head of scripted series for Amazon Studios. Jeff Bezos himself has a  personal interest in Lord of the Rings series. With an almost bottomless pocket to fund it, it will surely be an epic television series.

The property is part of a massive campaign by Amazon to buff their stream service lineup. They also several sci-fi properties being developed, including Snow Crash and Ringworld.