McKellen and Serkis to return in 'The Hobbit'

By Adnan Tezer Jan 11, 2011, 21:43 GMT

Ian McKellen will return as wizard Gandalf and Andy Serkis will reprise his role as Gollum in Peter Jackson's two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit."

According to Variety, shooting begins Feb. 14 in New Zealand.

McKellen and Serkis are amongst a slew of actors reprising their roles from Jackson’s "Lord of the Rings" trilogy for "The Hobbit."

Elijah Wood has signed on to return as Frodo Baggins, and Cate Blanchett will play Galadriel.

The "Hobbit" book first introduced Gandalf and Gollum.

Gandalf sets the story in motion and appears throughout the novel. Gollum appears in one of the most memorable chapters in the book.

The films are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and MGM, with Warner Bros. Pictures distributing.

Warner Bros. and MGM announced last week that Warners will handle worldwide distribution on the films, handling the international distribution and home video on the films in exchange for funding MGM's half of the production costs.

The first film opens December, 2012 and the second film opens December, 2013.

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham are producing the films, with Phillipa Boyens serving as co-producer and Ken Kamins executive producing.

Jackson, Walsh and Cunningham produced the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

The cast includes Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, James Nesbitt, Adam Brown, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Mikael Persbrandt, Ryan Gage, Jed Brophy and William Kircher.