Ian McKellen News

Peter Jackson has released a new video update on his upcoming film, THE HOBBIT. In the video Jackson talks about the 3D technology used on the movie.

Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning writer/director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street), Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated and Emmy Award winning Actress Lily Tomlin (9 to 5, Nashville), Golden Globe nominated and Emmy and Tony award-winning actress Ellen Barkin (The Big Easy, Ocean's 13) and actor James Marsden (X-Men, Hairspray) have been set to be honored as part of the 14th Annual Savannah Film Festival, which will take place from October 29th to November 5th.

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is coming to theaters on December 14th from New Line Cinema. The fantasy adventure film is directed by Peter Jackson.

Today we continue our special series consisting of five entries total, each of which highlight a different facet of the rich and wonderful world of William Shakespeare and all with a particular emphasis on the controversial new feature film that explores the time, place, politics and goings-on of the Elizabethan era and focuses on the possibility that the true author of the esteemed plays we now know may very well have been someone else entirely - Edward de Vere - and how the question of the canon's true creation then comes into play - ANONYMOUS. "All the world's a stage," after all, so it should come as no surprise that acts of lust, bloodshed and betrayal would exist in the actual life - or even the supposed one - of the man who created the most bloody and thought-provoking tragedies in the history of literature - whoever he may have actually been. Perhaps some brief analysis of the finest leading players, most memorable lines and moments, as well as an exploration of other notable acts of grand betrayal in Shakespeare's plays will aid us on the journey to understanding the thesis of ANONYMOUS and bring us into a closer relationship with the individual who penned the greatest plays in the English language. Since we have now analyzed the top ten male and female Shakespearean performers of the last few decades, today we are going to take a look at some of the most famous lines from Shakespeare's plays and some of the best audiovisual examples of them given full weight in their dramatic context - ROMEO & JULIET, AS YOU LIKE IT, RICHARD III included - with leading players as iconic as Marlon Brando, Kevin Kline, Sir Ian McKellen, Kenneth Branagh and Leonardo Dicaprio!

Today we continue our special series consisting of five entries total, each of which highlight a different facet of the rich and wonderful world of William Shakespeare and all with a particular emphasis on the controversial new feature film that explores the time, place, politics and goings-on of the Elizabethan era and focuses on the possibility that the true author of the esteemed plays we now know may very well have been someone else entirely - Edward de Vere - and how the question of the canon's true creation then comes into play - ANONYMOUS. "All the world's a stage," after all, so it should come as no surprise that acts of lust, bloodshed and betrayal would exist in the actual life - or even the supposed one - of the man who created the most bloody and thought-provoking tragedies in the history of literature - whoever he may have actually been. Perhaps some brief analysis of the finest leading players, most memorable lines and moments, as well as an exploration of other notable acts of grand betrayal in Shakespeare's plays will aid us on the journey to understanding the thesis of ANONYMOUS and bring us into a closer relationship with the individual who penned the greatest plays in the English language. Picking up where we left off, now, with the second entry in the five days of Top 5s, here is a look at the best leading ladies to have done Shakespeare onstage and onscreen this century and last - featuring Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, Helen Mirren, and, an ANONYMOUS star herself, Vanessa Redgrave!

Today we begin a special series consisting of five entries total, each of which will highlight a different facet of the rich and wonderful world of William Shakespeare and all with a particular emphasis on the controversial new feature film that explores the time, place, politics and goings-on of the Elizabethan era and focuses on the possibility that the true author of the esteemed plays we now know may very well have been someone else entirely - Edward de Vere - and how the question of the canon's true creation then comes into play - ANONYMOUS. "All the world's a stage," after all, so it should come as no surprise that acts of lust, bloodshed and betrayal would exist in the actual life - or even the supposed one - of the man who created the most bloody and thought-provoking tragedies in the history of literature - whoever he may have actually been. Perhaps some brief analysis of the finest leading players, most memorable lines and moments, as well as an exploration of other notable acts of grand betrayal in Shakespeare's plays will aid us on the journey to understanding the thesis of ANONYMOUS and bring us into a closer relationship with the individual who penned the greatest plays in the English language. Kicking off the five days of Top 5s, here is a look at the best leading men to have done Shakespeare onstage and onscreen this century and last - featuring Kenneth Branagh, Ian McKellen, Al Pacino, James Earl Jones, and, the ANONYMOUS narrator (and a confirmed Oxfordian himself), Sir Derek Jacobi!

On October 18, 2011 stage and screen actor Patrick Stewart will be joining STC's Artistic Director Michael Kahn for his first installment of 'Classic Conversations'.

On October 18, 2011 stage and screen actor Patrick Stewart will be joining STC's Artistic Director Michael Kahn for his first installment of 'Classic Conversations'.

Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning writer/director Oliver Stone ('Platoon,' 'Wall Street') will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award along with Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-nominated, Emmy Award-winning actress Lily Tomlin ('9 to 5,' 'All of Me') at the 14th annual Savannah Film Festival.

Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning writer/director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street), Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated and Emmy Award winning Actress Lily Tomlin (9 to 5, Nashville), Golden Globe nominated and Emmy and Tony award-winning actress Ellen Barkin (The Big Easy, Ocean's 13) and actor James Marsden (X-Men, Hairspray) have been set to be honored as part of the 14th Annual Savannah Film Festival, which will take place from October 29th to November 5th.

Tony Award winner Roger Rees has extended his contract and will continue as Gomez in the hit musical THE ADDAMS FAMILY for an additional two months through the show's final performance on Saturday, December 31 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (205 West 46th Street). Rees plays opposite stage and screen star Brooke Shields as Morticia.

Acclaimed actor, Ian McKellen, returns to the Belgrade Theatre where he started his career, to celebrate his 50th year in the acting business, which began in 1961 on the Belgrade's Main Stage.

According to IMDB, stage and screen star Ian McKellen recently revealed that he would like to star in another pantomime show in the future. McKellen told the Guardian: 'I would like to do a pantomime again, because I enjoyed that very much.' He has previously starred as Widow Twankey at the Old Vic.

Today we are talking to the man who makes all of the magic available to see in the Shakespeare's Globe Film Series actually happen onstage in the first place - such as this week's stunning showing of HENRY IV: Part 2 on August 18 -Shakespeare's Globe Artistic Director, Dominic Dromgoole. In addition to a thorough discussion of all aspects of the unprecedented series of performance captures that have taken place at Shakespeare's Globe so far - seven and counting - we also discuss many aspects of the Bard himself and what productions like HENRY IV: Parts 1 & 2 - both of which he directed - have to say to a twenty-first century audience. Besides that, Dromgoole sheds some light on some of the most memorable moments of his tenure at the Globe, as well as sharing his individual insight into everything from GLEE to Chekhov and, of course, we dissect a number of Shakespeare's most instructive, innovative and unforgettable scenes from many of his finest histories and latter plays, with a focus on HENRY IV and the future for the Shakespeare's Globe Film Series.

London's Arts Theatre is hosting a trio of holiday shows this year and amongst them, according to WhatsOnStage.com, will be the Simon Callow-led A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

British stage and screen actor John Wood, known for his roles in Tom Stoppard's plays, died on August 6, 2011 at the age of 81.

Acclaimed actor, Ian McKellen, returns to the Belgrade Theatre where he started his career, to celebrate his 50th year in the acting business, which began in 1961 on the Belgrade's Main Stage.

The National Theatre's production of FELA! has received an extraordinarily popular and critical reception. Stephen and Ruth Hendel are proud to announce that the first European engagement signed for the international tour is a return to London for a six-week run at the prestigious Sadler's Wells Theatre.

An ignored German law making homosexuality a criminal offense is reactivated during Hitler's rise to power.

Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross will star on Broadway this autumn in Noël Coward's Private Lives directed by Richard Eyre at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street). Previews will begin on Sunday November 6; opening night is Thursday November 17. The limited engagement runs through February 5 2012.