Filmonic » Ian McKellen

Fan made X-Men Origins: Magneto Trailer

Liam — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:23:30 +0000

Last month X-Men producer Lauren Shulder Donner pretty much confirmed that X-Men Origins: Magneto, which had been in development limbo for 2 years, was dead. I can understand why, I mean out of all the planned X-Men movies Magneto would probably perform worst at the box office, unless they could somehow get Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt involved.

The script revolved around a young Magneto getting revenge on Nazi’s and befriending a young Charles Xavier. It’s not really blockbuster material, however I would love to see a Magneto movie at some point in the future. The character may not be as commercial as Wolverine but he is far more interesting. 20th Century Fox just need to find a director who could make a dark, gritty and badass movie.

In the meantime (which could be a few years) here’s a cool X-Men Origins: Magneto fan made trailer you can be watching. It uses footage from all three movies, so (if you can) just imagine everyone looking younger. It also doubles up as a tribute to the character Ian McKellen brought to life so magnificently.

Ian McKellen “couldn’t be happier” with The Hobbit script

Liam — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:11:45 +0000

Over the past few months we’ve been following the progress of The Hobbit script rather intensely. We got updates from Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro during the writing process, then Ian McKellen said he would receive his copy of the first draft in September, and now two months on McKellen has read the script.

Sci-Fi Wire caught up with him recently and he shared his thoughts:

“As Peter has said, they loved writing Gandalf [for The Hobbit] because they knew who they were writing him for,” McKellen told us exclusively in an interview last week while promoting AMC’s The Prisoner. “There are a lot of characters in The Hobbit, including, crucially, Bilbo, and they don’t know who’s going to play Bilbo. So it’s extremely attractive that this part has been written for me. The other Gandalf was written for, well, just as Gandalf. There’s lots for me to enjoy, in all sorts of ways. And I couldn’t be happier. But I’m sworn to secrecy. I’m not to say anything at all about the script.”
As for del Toro’s input into the new script, McKellen said that he and Jackson speak the same language. “They are the same person,” he said. “They were separated at birth. They’re twins. They have the same attitude. Neither likes working in Hollywood. They’re both fascinated by fantasy and violence on the screen, and gore, and things that frighten you. They like going into the psyche. They’re both brilliant storytellers in very much the same way. And I think the script, because I have read it, plays very much to Guillermo’s strengths, as I’ve seen them. I have seen his other movies, and people act very well in them. So I think it’s all fine. And Peter will always be there.”

McKellen will be heading to New Zealand in March and will be there throughout 2010. He also knows who will be playing Bilbo Baggins, however he can’t reveal who, although he’s sure that the fans will be “very, very pleased”.

Ian McKellen on The Hobbit: “I played the best wizard”

Liam — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:02:39 +0000

Sir Ian McKellen has reached that stage in his career where he is presented with awards for his acting work over the many years he’s been in the business, and McKellen recently travelled to Spain for the San Sebastian Film Festival to collect such an award. While there Rotten Tomatoes got the chance to interview him and The Hobbit was obviously a key talking point.

…it was McKellen who raised the wizard’s name before we asked, rather controversially declaring to RT, “I don’t want to play Gandalf again.”
But before a million Rings fans cry out in terror at the thought of another thesp stepping into the role, McKellen was actually discussing the risk of typecasting the wake of a big success. “If you play a part that gets an awful lot of attention,” he explained, “forever after you’re being asked by directors to play the same part in their movie. But I played the best wizard, and I’m happy to revisit him, which I shall do in The Hobbit with Guillermo del Toro.”
“Grey Gandalf is my favourite,” he told us. “Peter Jackson’s too, we always preferred Gandalf the Grey. Peter liked him because he got down and dirty. He slept in the hedgerows; he was closer to the earth and not quite so spiritual. He’s also funnier — he’s got more variety to him. We thought there was more scope in that Gandalf.”

My favourite was Gandalf the White, probably because he was the one who we saw onscreen the most and he kicked Orc ass, however we only saw Gandalf the Grey during the first half of Fellowship of the Ring so it’ll be cool to see more of Gandalf pre-you shall not pass!

The Hobbit will begin filming next year, and Ian McKellen is expected to wield his staff again after 9 years when he travels to New Zealand in March.

Ian McKellen knows who’s playing Bilbo

Liam — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:52:53 +0000

According to /Film Ian McKellen recently attended an all-night showing of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and gave the crowd an update on The Hobbit.

Ian McKellen was present in person to intro the screenings, and while he only spoke for a very short time, he managed to get the crowd into something of a frenzy. Not only did he confirm that he’ll be coming back as Gandalf, and is expecting to start work on set in March of next year, he also dropped a bit of a casting bombshell. According to McKellen, the starring role of Bilbo Baggins has been successfully cast already. Not only that, but he knows who has the role and he’s sure that the fans will be very, very pleased. McKellen also revealed that he is expecting his own personal copy of “the script” within the next fortnight.

Last month Peter Jackson said that they won’t be revealing who’ll be playing Bilbo Beggins “for a little while” as they were still finishing the script. If what Ian McKellen says is correct they must have finished the first draft of the script and are getting the casting under way. Hopefully they’ll start letting us know who they’ve chosen soon!

Guillermo del Toro confirms Hugo Weaving will be in The Hobbit

Liam — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:48:21 +0000

Guillermo del Toro said last week that he would be revealing casting details for The Hobbit in a few weeks time, namely who will be playing Bilbo Baggins. However, today del Toro appeared on a radio show in the UK and gave a little more information about The Hobbit. He confirmed that Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis would be back, but we’ve known and assumed that for a while, however he also revealed that Hugo Weaving will be back as Elrond. It looks like the old gang will be getting back together!

From the BBC’s Simon Mayo show (via /Film):

Mayo then asked if Andy Serkis is back, which prompted Guillermo to confirm a nice little trio of casting locks:
“Yes [and] Ian McKellen is back, [and] Hugo Weaving in the roles they originated in the trilogy.”

Guillermo del Toro also spoke about Smaug and explained that only now, after eight months of design work have they “cracked the basic engineering.” He suspects that they will need another six or seven months of application there before Smaug is ready for his close up.

Hopefully we will learn who’ll be playing Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming weeks as Guillermo promised, and possibly more casting news over the coming months. December 2011 seems so far away!

Ian McKellen ‘ready and waiting’ for Wolverine 2

Liam — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:51:11 +0000

Ian McKellen has revealed to Showbiz Spy that in the event of a sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine being green light he would be willing to grab his helmet and reprise his role as Magneto.

Ian says, “I’m here and ready and waiting.
“If the Wolverine movie does well they’ll probably make another one and I’d love to do battle with Hugh again.”

Personally I wouldn’t be too interested in seeing Magneto in a Wolverine movie. I’d much rather see that Magneto movie Fox have been sat on for years.

In other Magneto/X-Men Origins: Wolverine news (possible spoilers) someone brought to my attention a scene that the crew may be filming in Vancouver. Additional filming is currently taking place and apparently one scene towards the end of the film involves a badly beaten Sabretooth being picked up by two familiar faces. One is already mentioned in this post and the other is rather blue and naked. Apparently it will involve body doubles because McKellen and Rebecca Romijn are busy (McKellen is on stage and Romijn has just had twins). X-Men Origins: Wolverine takes place around 15 years before X-Men so they may be adding that scene to link the movies, as Sabretooh appears in the Brotherhood alongside Magneto and Mystique in X-Men.

Of course it could be bull, however the person who informed me has been right in the past about a few things regarding filming, so take it as you will.

X-Men Origins: Magneto Synopsis Revealed

Liam — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:48:09 +0000

X-Men Origins: Magneto is slowly taking steps to getting made. The film has had David Goyer attached to direct since April 2007, and now it finally has a synopsis! Progress!

From trade magazine Production Weekly:

“The original X-Men film began with a prologue that showed the character as a child being led to a concentration camp by Nazis and that is the period in which the Magneto film will take place. This setup will allow a future villain to at least flirt with the designation of protagonist since the character will be seen almost exclusively in his formative years.”
“The storyline will heavily involve Professor X, the wheelchair-using X-Men leader. That character was a soldier in the allied force that liberated the concentration camps. The professor meets Magneto after the war and while they bond over the realisation that they are alike in their special powers, their differences soon turn them into enemies.”

Ian Mckellen is attached to the film but will most likely serve as narrator or in flash forward sequences. From the synopsis it seems that Patrick Stewart may also be required, however as the film is set in the past Fox will probably decide to hire younger actors instead of doing the de-ageing effects seen in X-Men 3.

X-Men Origins: Magneto will begin filming whenever David Goyer finds the time and the script is complete.

Gandalf Lays Down Some Dirty Rhythms

Liam — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:26:42 +0000

I always knew Ian McKellen was the coolest actor in the world and this just proves it. From TheOneRing.net

He’s been seen in Shakespeare, The Simpsons and the Shire – but now Sir Ian McKellen is branching out into garage music. The venerable actor recorded a Shakespearean sonnet onto a beat created by members of the Limehouse Youth Club. He was invited to the Limehouse Causeway club to launch an open art competition in association with the Narrow Street Fete. He said: “What they did there was great. Shakespeare is all based on beat, rhythm and rhyme, and all those things that rappers deal with.”

Maybe Guillermo del Toro could add a scene to The Hobbit where Gandalf goes off with the Elves to do some freestyling. Well maybe not in the film, but how about the DVD?

X-Men Origins: Magneto Shooting Next Year?

Liam — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:55:50 +0000

X-Men Origins: Magneto first got the green light last April and at one point was scheduled to begin filming in January, however the writers strike got in the way and there haven’t been any developments this year at all…that we know of anyway.

IGN caught up with The Dark Knight writer David Goyer at Comic-Con, who wrote the screenplay and has been attached to direct Magneto for a while.

“Magneto seems to be a movie that Fox still wants to make. They called me about it a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still working on Unborn through November, and so we said, when I finish Unborn, we’ll talk, and maybe we’ll get that going next year.”

Fox may be aiming to get Magneto out in 2010, as X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be out next May. Ian McKellen recently said he would be interested in returning for ‘topping and tailing the story’ as the script requires a younger Magneto who is coming to grips with his metal manipulating powers as he and his parents try to survive in Auschwitz. He then meets Professor Xavier and starts hunting down and killing Nazi war criminals.

Sounds good to me.

Ian McKellen Talks Magneto

Liam — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:16:26 +0000

Ian McKellen was a special guest at an all-night screening of the X-Men trilogy at London’s BFI Imax cinema this weekend and spoke to the BBC about the trilogy and the Magneto spin-off.

On the X-trilogy

“I think it’s a very good series,” he told the BBC News website, “Marvel told me that this is their favourite because it has a social purpose and the strongest demographic are young blacks, Jews and gays who respond to the idea that society does treat some adults as mutants and that was what initially appealed to me about the story.”

On Magneto

“There is a script knocking around for a spin-off, but it will be a younger Magneto, so if I were involved it would just be topping and tailing the story.”

I think having Ian McKellen narrate or appear in ‘flash forwards’ would be the best option. It would keep the continuity and having Ian McKellen in any film isn’t exactly a bad thing.

We haven’t had an update on the spin-off in a while. It is assumed David Goyer is still on-board to direct and they may be seeing how Wolverine goes before it gets the greenlight.

In other Magneto news, a new script has found its way online and you can read a review of it here.