Ian McKellen is returning to the big screen as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. A behind-the-scenes video shared by the Tolkien Universe account on X on 17 September 2026 showed the actor’s Gandalf look with long gray hair and a beard for the first time. The footage also revealed that filming is still underway.
McKellen, 87, known for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, also played Gandalf in The Hobbit trilogy. The film is directed by Andy Serkis, who will reprise his role as Gollum. Elijah Wood is returning to the cast as Frodo Baggins, while Lee Pace will return as Thranduil; Jamie Dornan, Leo Woodall and Kate Winslet are among the new cast members. The production will be released on 17 December 2027.
Why it matters
The release of the first image shows that the production has moved beyond merely announcing its cast and that filming is still underway. McKellen’s Gandalf look, closely associated with the previous films, places the new production within a familiar continuity framework, particularly for viewers who followed The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. The return of Elijah Wood and Lee Pace, together with the new cast members, shows that the film is preserving its connections to familiar characters while also expanding its cast. However, it remains unclear how decisive characters such as Gandalf, Frodo and Thranduil will be in the Gollum-centered story, and how the cast members from different periods will come together in the narrative.