James McAvoy Wants To Play Gandalf In THE SILMARILLION

James McAvoy Wants To Play Gandalf In THE SILMARILLION

While chatting to Total Film, the X-Men: First Class actor expresses his desire to play a younger version of Gandalf the Wizard in a movie adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings/The Hobbit prequel (of sorts) "The Silmarillion"..

News
By MarkCassidy - Jan 05, 2013 04:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantasy
Source: Total Film



It seems James McAvoy is a Tolkien fan. In an interview with Total Film for their latest issue, the Scottish actor - who will reprise the role of Charles Xavier in X-Men: Days Of Future Past - says that he'd like to step into Middle Earth as that most famous of Wizards, Gandalf The Grey, when the mag asked which role he'd most like to tackle when he's finished his current slate. “I’d like to play Gandalf,” said McAvoy, laughing. “It’s called The Silmarillion! It’s a collection of poems and songs that chart the ancient history of Middle-earth. My true geek is coming to the fore, but they’re really, really beautiful stories. In part of that is the genesis of Gandalf, or Mithrandir, or Stormcrow, or any of his many, many names. Anyway, maybe that’s the one!” Of course there are presently no plans to bring the novel to the screen, but if the rest of The Hobbit movies are as successful as the first, who knows. Although without meaning to shatter Mr McAvoy's dreams here, I'm not actually sure Gandalf appears in it! It's been years since I read it, can any of you Tolkien buffs confirm this? Either way, I'm sure McAvoy would make a great Gandalf - but shouldn't it really be Michael Fassbender?







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ManOfKrypton
ManOfKrypton - 1/5/2013, 4:52 AM
Sure why not, I'd be up for seeing the Silmarillion on the Big Screen!
jj2112
jj2112 - 1/5/2013, 5:00 AM
The Silmarillion will never happen, at least not for now... There are too many characters, it spans too many eras and audiences would find it confusing.
SimplyJoshuaJames
SimplyJoshuaJames - 1/5/2013, 5:01 AM
Would be awesome to see Tolkien's collected Middle Earth works to screen... There is just so much material and it's so rich I don't think I could ever get bored :)
Kaedus
Kaedus - 1/5/2013, 5:01 AM
Unfortunately I think the Silmarillion rights are still with the Tolkien estate and apparently they do no want to give it up.

Also, imagine trying to adapt it! Wow, one hell of a task.
ManofSteel23
ManofSteel23 - 1/5/2013, 5:03 AM
It's weird that last night while watching the hobbit I said I'd love to see a film back story of sauron and the rings n stuff,then this news comes up
jj2112
jj2112 - 1/5/2013, 5:06 AM
BTW, Gandalf only appears briefly in the chronicle of The Third Age and the Rings of Power, which has already been featured in LOTR. But it would be great to see things like the war against the first Dark Lord, the fall of Numenor, Feanor and the elves...
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/5/2013, 5:10 AM
i'm up for this more middle earth the better.i didn't think j.r.r tolkien finished the book,i thought he died before it was finished.
DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 1/5/2013, 5:15 AM
Can't get enough middle earth!
rebellion
rebellion - 1/5/2013, 5:22 AM
gandalf always looked lika a grandpa so it wouldn't make any sense :P
Hero020200
Hero020200 - 1/5/2013, 5:23 AM
I am happy about The Silmarillion coming to the big screen and I think that McAvoy is the perfect person for the role
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/5/2013, 5:24 AM
@ SpecialKail

i see what you did there,funny well done.
Ariakas
Ariakas - 1/5/2013, 5:33 AM
@Ficjunkie

You're right. Gandalf has, in his human body, always looked young. Maybe McAvoy has never actually read these books.
Amazo
Amazo - 1/5/2013, 5:36 AM
The wizards arrival in Middle-Earth is covered briefly in Unfinished Tales.They are described as all looking old.Their minds age but not their bodies.They are physical embodiments of the Maiar (Basically second level gods)There are five of them sent to Middle-Earth to prepare the races for the re-emergance of Sauron,but forbidden to directly raise their hands against him.They are to advise only.Radaghast becomes obsessed with animal life,Gandalf with the various races,Saruman with power,and the other two go mysteriously missing after travelling with Saruman into the east.....
Or at least that's what I remember from my teens.Many many moons ago lol
iuhgluiblbjjkhkjhkljh
iuhgluiblbjjkhkjhkljh - 1/5/2013, 5:38 AM
I think I have a man-crush...
batfan175
batfan175 - 1/5/2013, 5:39 AM
Nice dream he's got there but his age does not change, since it's just a form the Maiar Olorin assumes.
Valandil
Valandil - 1/5/2013, 6:16 AM
Fassbender in that case.
Facade
Facade - 1/5/2013, 6:27 AM
I'd love to see (parts of) The Silmarllion filmed! So many EPIC tales. A mini-series on showtime, HBO or the like would be a great avenue for featuring the richness of the book.
BoredSorcerer
BoredSorcerer - 1/5/2013, 6:37 AM
so basically all the sequels will be preqeuls wouldn't that make them backward?
AshleyWilliams
AshleyWilliams - 1/5/2013, 7:01 AM
Hmmmmmm, he plays young Patrick Stewart in one series, and a young Ian McKellen in another.
NeoBaggins
NeoBaggins - 1/5/2013, 7:17 AM
Fassbender is too stiff to play Gandalf. There's a certain lightheartedness about Gandalf I don't see Fassbender pulling off.
comiccow6
comiccow6 - 1/5/2013, 7:23 AM
So now Professor X will be Magneto? Awesome-sauce.
theomegasanction
theomegasanction - 1/5/2013, 7:26 AM
@Amazo, i think what you described could be the foundation for a movie i would like to see. i never read beyond the Hobbit and LOTR books so i do not know how much other source material is out there. but i do believe that the longer a great movie franchise runs the more likely the next movie will be a flop. Seems that three is about the average before things get bad: Star Wars, Batman, Indiana Jones. maybe they should just call it good after the Hobbit
StephenStrange
StephenStrange - 1/5/2013, 7:44 AM
In that case I guess it's a good thing that they will probably never make a Silmarillion movie.
Ceejay
Ceejay - 1/5/2013, 7:55 AM
He obviously hasn't read the Silmarillion otherwise he'd know there was never a young Gandalf and the 5 wizards never appeared until after the first age, 1000 years into the third age to be exact!
Ceejay
Ceejay - 1/5/2013, 8:10 AM
@INSTANTJUSTICE - Actually The Hobbit was the first book written about Middle Earth and The LOTR is pretty much the sequel to that.

Tolkien actually started it as a rewrite of The Hobbit which was going to be more serious and include more references to the timeline of Middle-Earth he had begun developing. The publishers wanted the Hobbit to stay light for children so he developed it into LOTR instead which is why they have a lot of similarities.

And for the record, the Silmarillion is not any more episodic than LOTR. For a singular book like the Hobbit, both cover a lot of timeline and a lot of events. The Hobbit only tells one perspective of those events which is why making the movie is easy to expand into three movies with all the history and other events from that timeline to present the entire account of the tale. Like wise, The Silmarillion covers an entire age of events that span the creation of the universe to the end of the first age of men, dwarfs and elves in their conflict with the first darklord Morgroth to whom Sauron was his lieutenant. It merely has to be dramatised to be made into a film just as the Hobbit had to be dramatised. It would naturally take something like 5 or 6 films to do it justice but it can be done.
superotherside
superotherside - 1/5/2013, 8:23 AM
I knew it. Watch WB make these into movies as well. Since the book is so long they'll probably make it into 6 movies.
TheAmazingSpiderMan47
TheAmazingSpiderMan47 - 1/5/2013, 8:28 AM
The Silmarillion ... Trilogy ... make it happen !
thejfather1
thejfather1 - 1/5/2013, 8:30 AM
Actually everyone, he very well could play a Gandalf before the wizards leave for middle earth. He could play Gandalf/Mithrandir as a Maiar under Manwe because the wizards did not take on their human form until they left for middle earth.

In valinor however, the maiar and valar do not actually have physical forms, but they can choose to when presenting themselves to the elves among them in valinor, this is where James Mcavoy can come in
TheNameIsBetty
TheNameIsBetty - 1/5/2013, 8:38 AM
Wouldn't it be funny if The Hobbit ends up being a great trilogy, so they do this one as a Trilogy too?


Irony, ba dum dum
onwardpilgrim
onwardpilgrim - 1/5/2013, 8:43 AM
crap actor
legolad
legolad - 1/5/2013, 8:43 AM
They want money, so they'll make those 6 movies lol
jimpinto24
jimpinto24 - 1/5/2013, 8:49 AM
James McAvoy is a good actor. So he would make a good Gandalf.
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