Ian McKellen On Reprising Gandalf In The Hobbit: It’s True!

Sir Ian McKellen is not a foolish man.

The thesp confirmed that he has spoken to Guillermo Del Toro, director of the upcoming adaptations of The Hobbit, and that he’s definitely going to reprise his Lord Of The Rings role as Gandalf.

“Yes, it’s true,” he told Empire. “I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.”

The first movie should be easy enough, but the second takes place in the timeline right in between The Hobbit and Lord Of The Rings.  How is Del Toro going to manage that one? Is new material going to be added?

“Well I’ve read The Hobbit so I’ve got a good idea of what the story would be,” explained McKellen. “But as to how it’s going to work over two films and what going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet – I can tell you it’s going to be amazing though.”

Normally, we’d scoff at this sort of advance optimism.  But let’s face it — the man is probably 100% correct. 

Coldplay To Give Away Violet Hill As Free Download

Coldplay is giving away a freebie to fans in order to generate some advance word for their 4th studio album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends,  due to be released on June 12th in the UK and June 17 in North America.

The single Violet Hill will be available as a free download for a week at www.coldplay.com, beginning on April 29 at 12:15.  

And that’s not the only gift for the public in store from Coldplay — the band will also be giving two free massive concerts in London and New York to celebrate the launch as well.

The first concert will take place at London’s Brixton Academy on June 16 followed by New York’s Madison Square Garden one week later on June 23. 

Report: Asus Has Atom-based Eee PC, 10-inch Display On The Way

If you’re a fan of the ASUS Eee PC, the linux-based subnotebook co-designed by Intel, you’ll be pleased to know that some new tweaks are on the agenda for the little guy.

Jerry Shen, president of Asustek Computer, has gone on the record stating that the company intends to launch new Eee PCs which will be based on Intel’s Atom processor platform in June, according to a new report by DigiTimes. 

According to their sources, Asutek has ordered 2.5-3 million Atom processors from Intel, while Dell has 300,000-500,000 ordered. 

Later in the year, new models with a larger 10-inch display will also be unveiled. 

Of course, it’s mighty hard find one a budget Eee PC at the moment, since half of the overall worldwide demand has been from Europe.  The company’s battery shortages have made it where Asus has only been able to satisfy 40% of the European demand. 

Shen has stated that a complete recovery should happen by the end of the third quarter.

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