More May Return for Hobbit
Rings stars in talks to rejoin Tolkien universe. by Brian Linder <http://movies.ign.com/email.html> http://movies.ign.com/articles/875/875645p1.html May 21, 2008 - Guillermo del Toro, director of both Hellboy films, is about to move on to another genre franchise, New Line's two-movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Actors Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings, and Andy Serkis (Gollum), have already been in contact with the production about reprising their roles. And now there's word of another Rings star coming into the mix. According to Variety, Viggo Mortensen has been approached about returning to Middle-earth as Aragorn. Tolkien fans will know that Aragorn isn't introduced until Fellowship of the Ring, but the second film in the Hobbit series will be a bridge to the Rings trilogy based on a variety of Tolkien source material. The inclusion of Aragorn runs counter to what we previously heard from actress Liv Tyler who <http://movies.ign.com/articles/875/875397p1.html> told us recently, "As far as I know, Arwen and Aragorn are not in The Hobbit, or definitely aren't in it. But I don't know yet." Pre-production is about to begin on the project which Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will write with Peter Jackson and del Toro overseeing. "We will all be involved in the script in some fashion but the exact definition is about a week away, " del Toro told Variety. "I am all for keeping the actors who originated the parts, as much as availability and their willingness will allow." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
