The gray-bearded one wrote, "All I had to decide was what to do with the time that is given me." Thankfully for legions of fans, he decided to give it to the project which will begin filing in Wellington, New Zealand on February 21 after a fit of starts and stops over the last several years.

 

"The deciding negotiation was not about money but about dates. Gandalf is needed on set over the next 18 months but with sizeable breaks when I can work on other projects.  My worry that I could not easily escape from Middle Earth was lifted."

Game on!