Hobbit, Hellboy 3 and Frankenstein news from the mouth of Guillermo del Toro

Lots and lots of Hobbit goodness and it looks like Ron Perlman won't be Hellboy anymore. BBC radio's Simon Mayo had Guillermo del Toro on the show.

They were chatting about del Toro’s vampire novel The Strain, but they also discussed many of the films he's working on. /Film picked up on this first.

The Hobbit - We know it is going to be split into two films and del Toro mentioned that they will be expanding on some of the things mentioned in passing.

There is a whole other chapter, so to speak, which is the comings and going of Gandalf which are dealt with, people that know the lore know that Gandalf was delayed with a crisis… with a character that is very shady called the Necromancer that proves to be Sauron.

He was then asked if Andy Serkis would be returning which led to some cool news.

Yes [and] Ian McKellen is back, [and] Hugo Weaving in the roles they originated in the trilogy.

That's Gollum, Gandalf and Elrond. No news on who'll be playing Bilbo. He also mentioned that they have got the basics down for Smaug but it will take a good few months before they get it finished. Will Perlman or Doug Jones have a role in the film?

Hellboy 3 - Ron Perlman has said he no longer wants to wear the prosthetics, so Guillermo “guesses” it will never happen. I hope this gets changed though as I would love to see another Hellboy film.

Frankenstein - Doug Jones (Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien) has been cast as the monster. Guillermo will be directing it and they are starting make-up tests very soon. I can't wait to see what the Monster looks like.

The show is on BBC’s iPlayer for the next two days and the interview starts at the 1 hour 47 minute mark.

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