By Just a few days after Sir Ian McKellen indicated he would be up for returning as Gandalf for new “The Lord of the Rings” films, his former co-star Orlando Bloom has expressed similar sentiments.
Bloom is currently at the Toronto Film Festival to promote “The Cut,” a film about a boxer desperately trying to shed weight in the lead-up to a comeback fight – pushing his body to extreme limits to shed the pounds.
In both “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogy, Bloom starred as Legolas – the blond elf archer. Bloom was just 23 when he filmed the original ‘Rings’ and his early 30s when he shot “The Hobbit” films.
Now he’s 47 and is aware that if he comes back, he’s going to need some digital touchups. Asked by Variety if he would be interested in returning to Middle-Earth for the new films in the works, he says:
“Oh, man, those things are amazing. Yeah. I don’t know how they’d do it. I guess with AI you can do anything these days. But, if Pete [Peter Jackson] says jump, I say, ‘how high?’ I mean, he started my whole career.
I really don’t know what [they are planning]. I did speak to Andy [Serkis] and he did say they were thinking about how to do things. I was like, ‘How would that even work?’ And he was like, ‘Well, AI!’ and I was like, ‘Oh, OK!’ It was a pretty magical time in my life, and it’s one of those things where there’s not a downside to it.”
At least two new live-action Middle-earth movies are in the works with Jackson and his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens producing, while Andy Serkis is set to direct the first which will be titled “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum”. That film is due in 2026.
Bloom is drawing raves for his work in “The Cut,” the actor losing 23.6kg/52 lbs in just three months for the role – dropping from 84kg/185lbs to just 60kg/133lbs on his six-foot frame. The film was shot in reverse chronological order, allowing Bloom to gain weight as the production progressed.
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