Sir Ian McKellen is set to return to the set of Hobbiton in Matamata, New Zealand in June. McKellen said on his website that he would reprise the role of Gandalf, though the rest of the cast for executive producer Peter Jackson’s film, The Hobbit, has yet to be officially announced. Filming will take place in New Zealand throughout 2010, shot over 370 days and released in two parts.

McKellen said,

Casting in Los Angeles, New York City and London has started. The first draft is crammed with old and new friends, again on a quest in Middle Earth.