Warner Brothas is supposedly still shooting two Hobbit movies in 2009 and 2010, despite the director not having signed a contract and the Tolkien Trust suing the franchise for $150 million. But, hey, we’ve still got casting news. Today’s rumblings come from Sir Ian McKellen’s website, which recently published this fan Q&A:

Q: So has it come to pass, good Sir McKellen? Shall the dreaming masses with their musty books and their blackened pipes at long last hear those immortal words issue from under that famous nose? "Yes, yes, my dear sir –and I know your name, Mr. Bilbo Baggins. And you do know my name, though you don’t remember that I belong to it. I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me! To think I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna [Ed. Note - That's also a famous porn star's name!] Took’s son, as if I was selling buttons at the door!" Looking about, I find I share the same hopes as millions of others, so I ask, a single query in a chorus … Will you again be our Gandalf in The Hobbit now that the deal is settled?

A: 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!"

Well, duh.  If offensive gay stereotypes have taught me anything, it’s that all gays dream of playing a wizard.  In related news, the guy who asked that question probably gets his ass kicked a lot, and he probably deserves it. 

UPDATE: Now with video – thanks to BGavin for pointing out my oversight.