I’m starting to feel like I work for the Hobbit News Network lately!
Sir Christopher Lee is doubtlessly one of the living legends of cinema, and any person who puts out a symphonic metal album about the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne in his late eighties is a man I will forever respect. Lee has received significant attention in the 21st century that he hasn’t seen since his 1960s/70s Hammer Horror/James Bond heyday with his appearances in the Star Wars prequels, Tim Burton’s films, and — most of all — The Lord of the Rings trilogy as the corrupted wizard Saruman. Although the character does not appear in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit prequel novel, it has been widely reported that director Peter Jackson and his fellow screenwriters were planning to supplement the book’s story with additional material from Tolkien’s work to serve as a better “bridge” between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. That material features Saruman, but up until yesterday it wasn’t confirmed if the 88 year old Lee would be up for reprising the role. But on Lee‘s website yesterday it was announced that he will! Hit more for the full story!
Lee‘s website features the following message:
Slowly but surely, Peter Jackson has managed to secure the return of the majority of the major stars from The Lord of the Rings franchise for his soon to be shooting prequel, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Sir Christopher Lee had been in talks to reprise his role as the wizard Saruman and it now looks certain, providing that he is in good health, that he will be appearing in the movie.
This is great news, and I’m happy to see that Lee‘s website was sure to mention the “providing that he is in good health” part — more than anything I hope Lee has the best of health, because he will be over ninety years old by the time the second Hobbit film is released! I hope I’m still kicking ass at ninety, too.
Famously Lee and Jackson had gotten into a bit of drama over the theatrical version of The Return of the King because Saruman’s death scene was cut (it was restored for the extended edition of the film on DVD). Personally, I agree with Lee — why not show the death of one of the film’s major villains on screen? Gladly the two were able to mend fences.
As I said in my last Hobbit post, it’s likely that Christopher Lee‘s Saruman would appear in scenes with Cate Blanchett‘s Galadriel as members of the White Council — a group of elves and wizards who determine how to deal with the growing threat of Sauron (of course, we know how that turned out with Saruman, don’t we?).
The films will begin shooting in New Zealand on February 14 for an anticipated two-part release in December 2012 and December 2013. Peter Jackson will be directing from a script written by himself, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh (who wrote the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Guillermo del Toro.
What’s your favorite Christopher Lee role? Let us know your thoughts below!
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