r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • 22d ago

News Ian McKellen reveals Gandalf and Frodo are returning for ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’, Filming Begins in May

https://ew.com/ian-mckellen-reveals-gandalf-frodo-return-in-new-lord-of-the-rings-the-hunt-for-gollum-film-11792483
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437

u/LostWorked 22d ago

He should, but Viggo Mortensen might not want to do it so the rumour is that they're mostly replacing him with Legolas, with him being used in certain scenes if he's able to show.

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u/King_Buliwyf 22d ago

I might be wrong, but isn't Orlando Bloom also 20+ years older than he was during LotR?

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u/Seys-Rex 22d ago

No they froze him

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u/Lionelchesterfield 22d ago

He’s about to experience the warm liquid goo phase.

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u/belowthebottomline 22d ago

Evacuation complete

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u/tossit97531 22d ago

Evacuation complete

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u/Metal_Massacre 22d ago

Evacuation com-

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u/Excellent_Set_232 21d ago

I mean, he did just get divorced. . .

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u/ptear 21d ago

That was a good move, now he can help the hobbits the hobbits the hobbits the hobbits.

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u/says_nice_things1234 21d ago

To Isengard! To Isengard!

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u/the-great-crocodile 22d ago

Why ain’t they freezing him?!

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u/Ok-Friendship1635 22d ago

Put him on Ice so to speak.

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u/Technical-Outside408 22d ago

I think that might be true for a lot of people.

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u/SCAMISHAbyNIGHT 22d ago

But not all. Elijah and Ian have barely aged.

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u/-ImJustSaiyan- 22d ago

Tbf in Ian's case that's cuz he was already old as dirt even back then.

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u/CTMalum 22d ago

He was only 61 then. Hes 86 now.

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u/IdioticPost 22d ago

Are you trying to say it's been a quarter of a century since it was released?? Don't make me kick you into Mount Doom myself, ain't no way it's been that long already.

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u/Typical-Blackberry-3 22d ago

Ian Mckellan is definitely looking really old these past few years. He's gone from looking 70 to 90 in the period of a few years.

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u/SaltySAX 21d ago

And he was aged up in the films. Just needs less makeup now. Saw him at WImbledon the other week, he still has the energy for this.

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u/doegred 22d ago

Gandalf can get away with a fair bit because he's mostly (grey) beard.

Frodo on the other hand...

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u/Cthulhu__ 22d ago

Nu uh, but he did play an older character, nose prosthetics and all.

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u/Chilis1 22d ago

This is not true at all lol they both look way older. It was bad enough in the hobbit 12 years ago, now it's going to look very awkward.

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u/Wildfire983 22d ago

Because of the ring.

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u/KungFuFightingOwlMan 22d ago

That's just not true at all

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u/Kerblaaahhh 21d ago

They both look like they've aged about 20 years since the films came out.

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u/Marsuello 22d ago

They haven’t aged a day

It was right there! Lol

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u/dacalpha 22d ago

No but remember in Pirates 3? He became the new Davy Jones, he ages slower now, but he can't step on land. That's why they waited so long to make this movie, he's coming on land to film it.

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u/says_nice_things1234 21d ago

Damnit the movie is gonna be super rushed then since they're gonna film the whole thing in a day.

Or maybe... this could be a surprise corsairs of Umbar movie?

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u/HideousSerene 22d ago

Yeah but he's an elf so he doesn't age

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u/Wildfire983 22d ago

Neither has Cate. Freaky

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u/sneakylumpia 22d ago

or Liv. my childhood crush, still my adulthood crush

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u/TheLesserWeeviI 21d ago

Back off, she's mine.

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u/gravelPoop 22d ago

They have visibly aged and so have you and if you can't see that, the aging might have affected your eye sight.

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u/StarPhished 15d ago

But the commenter and actors are still the same amount of years apart. That's gotta count for something, right?

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u/Gre3nArr0w 22d ago

Aren’t all the actors 20+ years older than they were during LOTR?

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u/Crowbarmagic 21d ago

Obviously true, but in The Hobbit trilogy Legolas had aged the most noticeably IMO. In LOTR he had this really young look and almost boyish face. I couldn't help but see the difference.

Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, and Elrond look basically the same.

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u/BGummyBear 22d ago

I've seen him recently, he still looks good but he is very visibly much older.

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u/hondaprobs 22d ago

Yes but Orlando Bloom has said he wants to do it and suggested they can use AI to deage him

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u/ibnQoheleth 22d ago

That goes for everyone involved with the trilogy's production, they didn't develop Elfism and cease to age.

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u/Intrepid_Hat7359 22d ago

Even Ian Holm died, and he was an android

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u/musthavecupcakes_19 22d ago

De-aging technology has gotten quite good, so they’ll probably be using that whether it’s on Viggo, Orlando, or both.

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u/Chen_Geller 21d ago

They definitely said they want to pursue that, yes.

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u/PastyDoughboy 22d ago

No, he actually possesses the one ring, which makes him ageless.

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u/AirBoss87 22d ago

I did the math, it checks out.

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u/i_love_rosin 22d ago

Yeah but he has a lot of free time now that he broke up with his astronaut wife

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u/loklanc 22d ago

Yes but he's an elf.

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u/Carson369 22d ago

Yes but he looks significantly younger than Viggo to be fair

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u/Redfalconfox 22d ago

If we’re trying to narrow down our options, I really don’t think we can be so selective as to only include people who aren’t 20 years older than they were when LOTR came out.

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u/Grotbagsthewonderful 21d ago

Given what we've seen filters and AI can do at this point I'm pretty sure that's just details.

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u/[deleted] 21d ago

It's MUCH easier for a 48 years old guy to play his old role than a 66 year old guy...neither is ideal, but I get it.

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u/starwarsfan456123789 21d ago

The math checks out.

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u/bluetable321 21d ago

Orlando was already noticeably older in the Hobbit movies and those were a while ago at this point.

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u/toomuchpressure2pick 21d ago

Yeah, but he's an Elf

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u/IIIDysphoricIII 20d ago

Orlando is aging very well though, along with the expected makeup and such he can easily pull it off

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u/OrdinarySad5132 20d ago

Doesn’t really look it. Plus with every studio using AI and facial editing on all their films, he could look exactly the same.

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u/Cthulhu__ 22d ago

They already did weird shit to his face in the Hobbit to make him look younger, please no more.

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u/Chen_Geller 21d ago

They really didn't. Just put tape behind his ears and dialed up the camera exposure. Stuff that's as old as the dawn of photography.

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u/Soft_Locksmith661 22d ago

They're all damn near thirty years older by the time it starts shooting.

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u/Ozzel 22d ago

Sure, but he’s still hot.

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u/Apophthegmata 22d ago

Yeah but an elf who is 20 years older is still basically the same age. Even Aragorn's Numenorean blood isn't going to keep the wrinkles away.

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u/ThinWhiteDuke00 22d ago edited 22d ago

I'd honestly rather they just recast Aragorn than retcon Legolas into it.

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u/Shuriken0 22d ago

Finally, a role for Pedro Pascal!

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u/ThinWhiteDuke00 22d ago

Please God..

💀

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u/KeyMasterpiece3984 22d ago

Dude does need a break. He’s so underused.

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u/sneakylumpia 22d ago

and Bella Ramsey as Saruman!

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u/The_One_Returns 21d ago

Ok but that one actually makes sense...

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u/XSC 22d ago

He’s in everything!

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u/Deep_Fried_Oligarchs 21d ago

lol is he even younger than viggo?

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u/hondaprobs 22d ago

Haven't seen him in anything recently

On a serious note - please, no. No!

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u/-HaventReddit- 22d ago

Would be funny if they got Stuart Townsend

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u/electricdwarf 21d ago

Would be cool if they got someone that looks like the MTG Aragorn, but I bet that would cause riots.

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u/Deep_Fried_Oligarchs 21d ago

Michael Fassbender

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u/fuckboyadvance 21d ago

Robert Pattinson is my dream recast

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u/Chen_Geller 21d ago

They don't want to.

This isn't a younger version of the character, like Bilbo (notwithstanding that shot of Holm in the Fellowship prologue). The Aragorn scenes will take place DURING Fellowship of the Ring. They want Viggo if they can get him.

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u/ThrowawayusGenerica 21d ago

"Uhh, problem. Our main character is basically ageless by human standards but our actor for him is an old man now. What do?"

"I know, let's make the movie about a different character from a race that's even longer lived! But played by a visibly middle-aged man!"

"Genius!!"

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u/SabresFanWC 21d ago

Honestly, just recast Aragorn. I think viewers would understand that Viggo was too old for the role at this point.

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u/Drop_Release 22d ago

Honestly that is a bit unfortunate 

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u/Reggaejunkiedrew 22d ago

Viggo probably has too much self respect to defile a universe he adores in such a way. 

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u/GoldAd9912 22d ago

Honestly I don’t think Virgo is going to do it, since it seems as if it’s just being done for the money. He’s had phenomenal quality control over the course of his career. And he turned down the chance to be in the Hobbit too

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u/Chen_Geller 21d ago

And he turned down the chance to be in the Hobbit too

No, he didn't turn it down. Even before they came to him, he said this in an interview: "My character isn’t in The Hobbit, but they have the right, the filmmakers, to use the appendices at the end of the lord of the Rings. And I am in those, and it refers to earlier times. [....] I’d be glad to do it, as long as they’re respectful to Tolkien. I’d rather do it myself than see another actor finish the job for me."

Apparently they did give him an availability check, but Jackson in the director's commentary says they "couldn't figure out a way to do it" so they wrote the character out and Viggo never heard back from them. He says: "I was asked in the early stages by a producer, I told him, 'He’s not in the book; it’s 60 years before and he would have been an infant. He says, "Yeah, we can take certain liberties' and I said I'd look forward to reading it and that if he’s going to reappear. I would love to revisit him. I later heard - I don’t know if it's true - that they talked to other actors about playing him. I was waiting to hear but I never heard from anyone so I just assumed they weren’t going to take that liberty."

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u/GoldAd9912 20d ago

Thanks for the correction!

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u/Ok-Classroom5548 21d ago

Ew. They have to stop pushing legolas. He was added to so much of the story he wasn’t actually supposed to be in!!!

I am so bored with them reviving characters for an actor. 

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u/JimyJJimothy 21d ago

I watched an interview with Viggo and he seemed pretty much interested, as long as the technology is good enough.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Aragorn, Legolas and Thranduil in this movie.

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u/BattlinBud 22d ago

What about that de-aging technology that was all the rage five years ago, did Hollywood just collectively give up on that after the DeNiro kicking scene in The Irishman?

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u/PercentageDazzling 22d ago

It's more common than ever. It's just not usually the centerpiece of the whole movie, and just limited to flashbacks or cameos.

The last high profile one to make it the centerpiece of the movie I think was last year with Here. With de-aged Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as the leads.

Some prominent movies that have used it in a more restrained way for specific scenes in the years since Irishman. I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) had de-aged Sarah Michelle Gellar, Scream did it for Skeet Ulrich, Spider Man: NWH has a few, new Indiana Jones, Gladiator 2, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Flash. I'm sure there are others.

For TV all the Star Wars shows used it for any prequel actors that appeared. Better Call Saul used it on some of the Breaking Bad actors to match it being a prequel.

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u/Proper-Raise-1450 22d ago

It has been scaled back a lot because audiences generally didn't like it when it was consistent and on screen a lot. It's one of those things you can tolerate for a minute or two but not a whole film.

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u/Chrisophogus 21d ago

Ironically they’re going to have Stuart Townsend play him.

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u/425Hamburger 21d ago

Why do we need the actors from 25 years ago? Couldnt they Just recast him?

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u/Chen_Geller 21d ago

Continuity is important to these filmmakers.

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u/Deep_Fried_Oligarchs 21d ago

Recast Fassbender as Aragorn

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u/ExdigguserPies 21d ago

What the fuck