Sir Ian McKellen back as Gandalf

Sir Ian McKellen has confirmed he will reprise his role as Gandalf in the film remake of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.

"Yes, it's true," he told Empire magazine. "It's not a part that you turn down. I loved playing Gandalf."

Two Hobbit films are planned for release in 2010 and 2011. They will be prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.

Guillermo del Toro has been named as the director of the movies, to be made back-to-back in New Zealand.

"I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role," Sir Ian said.

He also said del Toro would be starting the script in about six weeks after he has finished filming current project, Hellboy 2.

According to studio New Line, the first film will be an adaptation of The Hobbit and the second will be an original story focusing on the 60 years between the book and the beginning of the Rings trilogy.

"As to how it's going to work over two films and what going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet - I can tell you it's going to be amazing though," Sir Ian said.

* Pinched from BBC Entertainment News, 30/04/2008

Hellboy II (2008) - First Trailer

Hellboy II : The Golden Army (2008)

Ah yeah! Ron Perlman returns in Hellboy II : The Golden Army, directed once again by the excellent Guillermo del Toro.

Here's a 'behind the scenes' introduction.

The Devils Backbone (2001)

The Devils Backbone is a ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War.

Directed by Guillermo Del Toro this has some similarities to his recent and most successful film Pan's Labyrinth in the way it mixes fantasy with war torn Spain. Its a bit of a strange mix but works really well overall especially when its all spoken in Guillermo's native tongue.

The film's based at an orphanage where the ghost of a murdered child haunts the corridors and attaches itself to the newest orphan, Carlos. Carlos follows the ghost and eventually discovers how he was murdered after questioning the other children.

Meanwhile the janitor, a mid twenty-something who has lived at the orphanage since a child has ideas about stealing the orphanage's hidden gold supply for his own benefit.

Both stories come together for the explosive finale and some pretty gruesome stabbing scenes.



I really enjoyed the special effects in this film because they are so subtle. The ghost boy is really simplistic at first appearance but when you get to see his face close up you'll notice some great water effects. It wasn't until I saw one of the 'making of' features on the disc (only available on this region 1 special edition by the way!) that some of the scenes I thought were real were actually made using some really awesome animatronic puppetry.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth. Guillermo is a really interesting director and one to definitely watch out for in the future.