Looks Like Christopher Lee Might Not Return to Middle-Earth
Filed under: Action, Classics, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
Christopher Lee attended the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival this week, and our friends from RushBlogg, Karsten and Eirik, were on hand to talk to him. Of all the attendees, Meinich was the only one who asked Lee about his involvement in The Hobbit. Lee's answer came as quite a surprise -- first, he's adamant that he won't be appearing in The Hobbit, because as we all know, Saruman isn't in the book. This comes as no surprise -- Lee is a Tolkien purist (thank goodness!) and he won't allow himself to be shoehorned in, even if Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro were interested in doing so. But what about the much discussed second film, which would likely deal with the Council of Wizards? That's a location problem. Lee isn't interested in filming in New Zealand again because it is simply too far away, for too long of a time. You can hear the tiredness in his voice -- and perhaps a bit of regret too.
That doesn't mean Lee isn't interested in being in The Hobbit at all, however! He'll appear in the film as long as he can stay in London, and there's a character he's quite keen to play. Or rather, voice. Someone very large, with a penchant for gold...
Head on over to RushBlogg and watch their video of Lee. It's a fantastic clip, and listening to him talk about Saruman, Return of the King, the Council of Wizards, and much more. It's like story-time. I could listen to him talk about Middle Earth for hours.
[Thanks Karsten!]
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Reader Comments
(Page 1)2. Why would you be able to explain the presence of Arwen and Legolas but not Aragorn or Saruman?
Posted at 8:55AM on Jul 14th 2008 by Kevin
3. because in the hobbit, the party goes to rivendell where one might find arwen and to mirkwood where one might find legolas. neither are mentioned in the story by name, however.
Posted at 11:07AM on Jul 14th 2008 by hb
4. I can certainly understand his reluctance to appear in The Hobbit. Way to go, Christopher! As for the second movie, if they are intending to incorporate Saruman (and I would expect that they would based on the info in the LOTR Appendices) then I hope against hope that they will figure out a way to have Lee's involvement.
As for him voicing Smaug, that would be absolutely brilliant but it could be a little distracting. Rhys-Davies as both Gimli and the voice of Treebeard worked ok, but Lee's voice is SO iconic i'm not sure it wouldn't be confusing/distracting to have him voice Smaug.
Posted at 12:46PM on Jul 14th 2008 by Moo
5. Ron Perlman is Beorn. Period. You heard it here first.
Posted at 10:59PM on Jul 17th 2008 by ralph
6. We know from Tolkien's writings that Aragorn was also at Rivendell during Bilbo & the dwarves visit -- but he was only a young boy at the time. I think a subtle cameo from the future Strider would be cool. It would be a great bookend to the glimpse of his funeral that was shown in The Two Towers.
Posted at 3:17PM on Jul 18th 2008 by Felagund
7. Actually, you can trace both Aragorn, as well as so many of the characters through the Tale of Years and within the Unfinished Tales. I would love to see an interwoven sequel.
(I know you all probably know the information I've just given. Just wanted to note.)
Posted at 2:16PM on Jul 30th 2008 by db
1. Well, God bless him, I mean, when they started to talk about to put in characters like his and Aragorn, I mean, I can understand if they'd want to bring Arwen and Legolas, those you could explain why they're there.
And about him voicing Smaug, wasn't there a rumor that maybe Ron Pearlman was going to voice him? I mean he has to be in the Hobbit, him and Doug Jones, Guillermo Del Toro doesn't go anywhere without them.
Posted at 6:23PM on Jul 13th 2008 by Claudia Lomelí