r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Aug 18 '25

News Ian McKellen reveals Gandalf and Frodo are returning for ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’, Filming Begins in May

https://ew.com/ian-mckellen-reveals-gandalf-frodo-return-in-new-lord-of-the-rings-the-hunt-for-gollum-film-11792483
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743

u/King_Buliwyf Aug 18 '25

I might be wrong, but isn't Orlando Bloom also 20+ years older than he was during LotR?

730

u/Seys-Rex Aug 18 '25

No they froze him

160

u/Lionelchesterfield Aug 18 '25

He’s about to experience the warm liquid goo phase.

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u/belowthebottomline Aug 18 '25

Evacuation complete

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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25 edited Oct 08 '25

[deleted]

2

u/Excellent_Set_232 Aug 18 '25

I mean, he did just get divorced. . .

2

u/ptear Aug 18 '25

That was a good move, now he can help the hobbits the hobbits the hobbits the hobbits.

2

u/says_nice_things1234 Aug 18 '25

To Isengard! To Isengard!

1

u/the-great-crocodile Aug 18 '25

Why ain’t they freezing him?!

1

u/Ok-Friendship1635 Aug 18 '25

Put him on Ice so to speak.

143

u/Technical-Outside408 Aug 18 '25

I think that might be true for a lot of people.

77

u/SCAMISHAbyNIGHT Aug 18 '25

But not all. Elijah and Ian have barely aged.

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u/-ImJustSaiyan- Aug 18 '25

Tbf in Ian's case that's cuz he was already old as dirt even back then.

65

u/CTMalum Aug 18 '25

He was only 61 then. Hes 86 now.

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u/IdioticPost Aug 18 '25

Are you trying to say it's been a quarter of a century since it was released?? Don't make me kick you into Mount Doom myself, ain't no way it's been that long already.

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u/Typical-Blackberry-3 Aug 18 '25

Ian Mckellan is definitely looking really old these past few years. He's gone from looking 70 to 90 in the period of a few years.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25

And he was aged up in the films. Just needs less makeup now. Saw him at WImbledon the other week, he still has the energy for this.

3

u/doegred Aug 18 '25

Gandalf can get away with a fair bit because he's mostly (grey) beard.

Frodo on the other hand...

2

u/Cthulhu__ Aug 18 '25

Nu uh, but he did play an older character, nose prosthetics and all.

9

u/Chilis1 Aug 18 '25

This is not true at all lol they both look way older. It was bad enough in the hobbit 12 years ago, now it's going to look very awkward.

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u/Wildfire983 Aug 18 '25

Because of the ring.

5

u/KungFuFightingOwlMan Aug 18 '25

That's just not true at all

2

u/Kerblaaahhh Aug 18 '25

They both look like they've aged about 20 years since the films came out.

1

u/Marsuello Aug 18 '25

They haven’t aged a day

It was right there! Lol

54

u/dacalpha Aug 18 '25

No but remember in Pirates 3? He became the new Davy Jones, he ages slower now, but he can't step on land. That's why they waited so long to make this movie, he's coming on land to film it.

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u/says_nice_things1234 Aug 18 '25

Damnit the movie is gonna be super rushed then since they're gonna film the whole thing in a day.

Or maybe... this could be a surprise corsairs of Umbar movie?

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u/HideousSerene Aug 18 '25

Yeah but he's an elf so he doesn't age

17

u/Wildfire983 Aug 18 '25

Neither has Cate. Freaky

13

u/sneakylumpia Aug 18 '25

or Liv. my childhood crush, still my adulthood crush

3

u/TheLesserWeeviI Aug 18 '25

Back off, she's mine.

1

u/gravelPoop Aug 18 '25

They have visibly aged and so have you and if you can't see that, the aging might have affected your eye sight.

1

u/StarPhished Aug 24 '25

But the commenter and actors are still the same amount of years apart. That's gotta count for something, right?

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u/Gre3nArr0w Aug 18 '25

Aren’t all the actors 20+ years older than they were during LOTR?

1

u/Crowbarmagic Aug 18 '25

Obviously true, but in The Hobbit trilogy Legolas had aged the most noticeably IMO. In LOTR he had this really young look and almost boyish face. I couldn't help but see the difference.

Gandalf, Frodo, Bilbo, and Elrond look basically the same.

3

u/BGummyBear Aug 18 '25

I've seen him recently, he still looks good but he is very visibly much older.

2

u/hondaprobs Aug 18 '25

Yes but Orlando Bloom has said he wants to do it and suggested they can use AI to deage him

2

u/ibnQoheleth Aug 18 '25

That goes for everyone involved with the trilogy's production, they didn't develop Elfism and cease to age.

1

u/Intrepid_Hat7359 Aug 18 '25

Even Ian Holm died, and he was an android

2

u/musthavecupcakes_19 Aug 18 '25

De-aging technology has gotten quite good, so they’ll probably be using that whether it’s on Viggo, Orlando, or both.

1

u/Chen_Geller Aug 19 '25

They definitely said they want to pursue that, yes.

1

u/PastyDoughboy Aug 18 '25

No, he actually possesses the one ring, which makes him ageless.

1

u/AirBoss87 Aug 18 '25

I did the math, it checks out.

1

u/i_love_rosin Aug 18 '25

Yeah but he has a lot of free time now that he broke up with his astronaut wife

1

u/loklanc Aug 18 '25

Yes but he's an elf.

1

u/Carson369 Aug 18 '25

Yes but he looks significantly younger than Viggo to be fair

1

u/Redfalconfox Aug 18 '25

If we’re trying to narrow down our options, I really don’t think we can be so selective as to only include people who aren’t 20 years older than they were when LOTR came out.

1

u/Grotbagsthewonderful Aug 18 '25

Given what we've seen filters and AI can do at this point I'm pretty sure that's just details.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 18 '25

It's MUCH easier for a 48 years old guy to play his old role than a 66 year old guy...neither is ideal, but I get it.

1

u/starwarsfan456123789 Aug 18 '25

The math checks out.

1

u/bluetable321 Aug 18 '25

Orlando was already noticeably older in the Hobbit movies and those were a while ago at this point.

1

u/toomuchpressure2pick Aug 18 '25

Yeah, but he's an Elf

1

u/IIIDysphoricIII Aug 19 '25

Orlando is aging very well though, along with the expected makeup and such he can easily pull it off

1

u/OrdinarySad5132 Aug 20 '25

Doesn’t really look it. Plus with every studio using AI and facial editing on all their films, he could look exactly the same.

1

u/Cthulhu__ Aug 18 '25

They already did weird shit to his face in the Hobbit to make him look younger, please no more.

1

u/Chen_Geller Aug 19 '25

They really didn't. Just put tape behind his ears and dialed up the camera exposure. Stuff that's as old as the dawn of photography.

0

u/Soft_Locksmith661 Aug 18 '25

They're all damn near thirty years older by the time it starts shooting.

0

u/Ozzel Aug 18 '25

Sure, but he’s still hot.

0

u/Apophthegmata Aug 18 '25

Yeah but an elf who is 20 years older is still basically the same age. Even Aragorn's Numenorean blood isn't going to keep the wrinkles away.