With The Hobbit reeving up and principal photography ready to start next month, director Peter Jackson and his team of Kiwis from New Zealand are steadily drawing former Lord of the Rings actors back into the fold. With Andy Serkis and Ian McKellan already already back as Gollum and Gandalf respectively, other Ringers are joining the party. Elijah Wood will reprise his role (albeit briefly since The Hobbit focuses mainly on Bilbo) as Frodo Baggins and Cate Blanchett will make an appearance as the elf Galadriel. Rumor even has it that Orlando Bloom might reprise his role as Legolas (seriously where is he?) and Ian Holm may show up in a couple scenes as the older Bilbo.
However, none of that compares to the news I found out today. According to his official website Christopher Lee, yes Mr. Dracula himself, is returning as the wizard Saruman. (Fantasy nerds nationwide please feel free now to cover the giant geek-boner in your pants with a book.) This is really surprising considering the man is 88 years old and would have to make a long plane ride to New Zealand. For the record Lee stated that his participation in the film is contingent upon his health, which by all accounts is quite good. Hey I guess if Eli Wallach can be in a film at 95, the former star of numerous Hammer Studio films can suck it up. In all seriousness though, this is extremely exciting and gratifying news for Tolkien fans everywhere.
There is one thing I want to address about Lee's participation and it goes to a core concern many Hobbit fans have expressed in recent months. Namely, that certain characters that are coming back weren't in The Hobbit novel. It is true that Frodo is not in the original novel but the appendix to The Lord of the Rings states that he was adopted by Bilbo when Frodo's parents drowned. Since the part of Drogo Baggins (Frodo's father) has already been cast, I suspect they will work this in towards the end of the film. Additionally Legolas does not appear in The Hobbit, however his father Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm of Northern Mirkwood is. It is logical to assume that Legolas as his son would be in his father's court.
As for Christopher Lee's part as Saruman...well here is where it gets really interesting. (SPOILER ALERT!) There is a point in The Hobbit where Gandalf leaves Bilbo, Thorin, and the rest of the dwarves at the outskirts of Mirkwood to head south. There he meets with the White Council, which are the five wizards of the realm that includes Saruman. Saruman is the head of the council. Together they decide to drive the Necromancer out of Dol Guldur which is a southern fortress in Mirkwood. The Necromancer is in fact Sauron, the main villain from the LOTR trilogy. Therefore, not only is Saruman's part explainable, the circumstances surrounding his presence could make for an excellent bit of cinema. This extra bit of action also explains why the movie is being split into two parts. Finally fans will see on film what was only alluded to in the books!
I know that was a lengthy diatribe regarding historical points of a fantasy kingdom and I probably came across as an uber-geek. (Actually there is no probably about it.) However, I really have to commend Peter Jackson for making a concerted effort to bring back some of the actors from the previous trilogy and to explore plot points of the books that were often only briefly mentioned.
One things for sure, if you are a fan of Middle Earth right now everything is coming up mithril!
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