I’m 100% certain that Ian McKellen will return as Gandalf the Grey if The Hobbit does eventually get made with it’s current team of Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro.

McKellen loves the character and he has certainly been the most vocal past member of the LOTR crew to voice his desire for Tolkien’s classic novel to get made into a feature.

Here’s his latest blog entry when he answers the questions on whether he will return to Middle Earth for The Hobbit…

Yes I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor…

Encouragingly, Peter and Fran Walsh have told me they couldn’t imagine The Hobbit without their original Gandalf. Their confidence hasn’t yet been confirmed by the director Guillermo del Toro but I am keeping my diary free for 2009!

Encouraging is the word. I can’t imagine anyone else as Gandalf either and I love that he mentions del Toro. He seems as pleased as everyone that the Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth director is taking a stab at Middle Earth.

So he’s keeping 2009 free then? Last we heard 2011 would be the release of the first half of the movie, so this seems to make sense. Could we possibly hear some casting rumors by late Summer? Let’s hope so, I think at this point we all want a smooth ride with the production on this one.

source - coming soon