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Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings - Source: ONE News -
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Actor Ian McKellen has confirmed on his website that filming for The Hobbit is set to start in New Zealand in July.
It was confirmed in 2007, after months of legal wrangling that the J R R Tolkien book would be made into two films.
McKellen reprises his role as Gandalf in the Guillermo del Toro directed films. He says filming is set to take over a year.
Peter Jackson is producing and in December he told The Hollywood Reporter that all other roles will be filled by actors new to the series.
"Casting in Los Angeles, New York City and London has started. The script too proceeds. The first draft is crammed with old and new friends, again on a quest in Middle Earth," McKellen said on his website.
McKellen says del Toro is now living in Wellington, close to Jackson and the studio in Miramar.
