| Q: When Peter Jackson announced he was doing Lord of the Rings, he said that if the trilogy was successful, he would go back and do The Hobbit. It has been a couple of years since this was brought up--i.e. FAQ--so I pose the question again Sir Ian. Have you heard anything recently about bringing The Hobbit to the screen, and would you be interested in reprising your role? Also do you think that Ian Holm would be interested in coming back to be the younger Bilbo, as he plays the younger Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings prologue? P.s. My wife wants to know if they gave you an extra bit of length for your nose in the Gandalf make-up---she says yes and I say no. A: I recently asked about the film rights to The Hobbit, which seem to be somewhat controlled by Peter Jackson, as far as I can tell. I hope that’s the case because obviously he should have first refusal at translating the novel into a movie. I should be intrigued to return to Middle-earth, even though it involved putting on Gandalf’s nose, which is even more distinctive than my own, tell your wife. I thought it might be possible to make a really long screen version, probably for television, with every episode of the book covered week by week in a multitude of episodes. Ian Holm -- who was proud to look so young as well as so old as Bilbo in The Fellowship of the Ring -- even he might think the young Bilbo of The Hobbit was unlikely casting for an actor of his age. |
