‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’: Ian McKellen Doesn’t Think It’s the End of the Journey, Peter Jackson Thinks It is [VIDEOS]
Sir Ian McKellen doesn’t believe the final “The Hobbit” film is the “end of the journey,” but Peter Jackson thinks it is. The Kiwi filmmaker said the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien must give its authorisation first before they can make another film. And it looks like it’s not going to happen soon.
At the London premiere of the “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” the third and final instalment of Jackson’s “Hobbit” trilogy, McKellen hinted that the film isn’t necessarily the end.
“I was told by Peter in 2001 that that was the end, that it was all over,” the 75-year-old multi-award-winning actor told BBC. “Here we are 13 years later. So I don’t believe necessarily that this is the end of the journey.”
McKellen has played the wizard Gandalf since the first film, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” came out in 2001. He then reprised the role for five more films, including the latest one. His comment gave fans hope that Jackson will be making more films based on Tolkien’s other works.
And as The Hollywood Reporter notes, Jackson even spent more than a decade creating infrastructure to make more films. It would be a shame to make them all go to waste.
However, the New Zealand director isn’t so positive about making more Tolkien films. He said practical things, such as legalities, prevent the film adaptation of Tolkien’s works.
“The Tolkien estate owns the writings of Professor Tolkien – ’The Hobbit’ and the ‘Lord of the Rings’ were sold by Professor Tolkien the late 60s ... but they are the only works of his that have been sold,” Jackson said at a press conference on Tuesday. “So without the cooperation of Tolkien estate, there can’t be more films.”
He will be doing the extended DVD edition of “The Battle of the Five Armies,” though, so that would keep him occupied in the meantime. He will head back to New Zealand to work on it for about five months.
The Tolkien estate isn’t likely going to authorise Jackson to adapt the novelist’s works. In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde in 2012, Tolkien’s son Christopher, the executor of his estate, said that the commercialisation of his father’s works has been detrimental.
“The commercialisation has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing,” he said. “There is only one solution for me: to turn my head away.”
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” will be released on December 11 in New Zealand.