"The Hobbit" trilogy wraps up with "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" on Dec. 17, but Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf, thinks director Peter Jackson will return to Middle-earth again someday.
McKellen has worked with Jackson on all three "The Hobbit" features as well as "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The director claimed he was finished with J.R.R. Tolkien's works after the first "Rings" film "The Fellowship of the Ring" premiered in 2001.
"I was told by Peter, in 2001, that that was the end, that it was all over," McKellen told the BBC at the London premiere for "The Battle of the Five Armies." "Here we are 13 years later. So I don't believe necessarily this is the end of the journey."
"The Silmarillion" represents the last remaining from Tolkien's Middle-earth works. The five-part book is a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" series and was completed by his son Christopher Tolkien after the elder Tolkien died in 1973.
Jackson first read "The Lord of the Rings" at age 17. He had wanted to make movies all his life and thought Tolkien's story would work great on film.
"I literally read it and thought, 'Wow, this would be a great movie, I can't wait to see it,'" Jackson told the BBC. "I had no idea that it would be me that would get to make the movies, so life is very strange."
Whether Jackson does return to the epic fantasy world, McKellen has no doubt audiences will continue to enjoy his two trilogy series.
"The movies will go on being seen, people will come to them freshly for the first time... The thing goes on living," he said.
"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" premieres on Dec. 17.
