They’re baaaack!
Two of Hollywood’s biggest stars are returning to the big screen in roles that gave their egos–and their banks accounts–big lifts.
First up, Tom Cruise. Suri’s daddy is planning to flex his muscles again in a fourth Mission: Impossible flick.
Several news sources have confirmed that Cruise is heading back to Paramount to make the sequel.
In doing so the movie star has presumably made amends with studio mogul, Sumner Redstone, the Hollywood movie bigwig who dropped Cruise’s production company from Paramount a couple years back.
The nasty split made headlines and prompted Cruise to revamp the United Artists studio with his production partner Paula Wagner.
Things are comparatively less dramatic in Ian McKellen’s life. All he wants to do is return to a role he knows better than just about anyone– Gandalf the Wizard.
According to British news reports, McKellen is this close to sealing the deal to play Gandalf in the cinematic adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic “The Hobbit.”
While McKellen has yet to officially sign on the dotted line, rumor has it that director Guillermo del Toro has been telling insiders that the 68-year-old actor has a lock on the role of the white-haired wizard.
A popular British magazine quoted McKellen as saying. “Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.” While another revealed that the British actor let slip that he would hate to see anyone else play the role.
Makes sense to me, especially when you consider that McKellen’s interpretation of Gandalf in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.
C’mon… is there anyone who didn’t love McKellen in the trilogy?
Fans adore him, critics love him and it shows. The “Lord of the Rings” movies were extremely lucrative, grossing some $2.8 billion at theaters worldwide.
Only time will tell if “The Hobbit” will be met with the same kind of success. It is being produced by Peter Jackson, the director of the “Rings” movies, and will reportedly be shot in New Zealand next year.