AMC is doing their promo blitz for the updated version of ‘The Prisoner’, one of the cool items they sent along was this ‘Prisoner Timeline’ piece. Take a look! And don’t forget to catch ‘The Prisoner’ Sunday, November 15 at 8pm/7c on AMC.

When Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner aired in 1967, it was unlike anything else on TV. The brazenly surreal series became known for heady socio-political themes, outrageous sci-fi twists, willful absurdity, and head-scratching loose ends. Read the rest of this entry »

Ian McKellen is going back to drama school, for television. The thesp has signed to star in a half-hour mockumentary series, “The Academy,” that is being shopped to U.K. and U.S. buyers by DLT Entertainment. McKellen would play his fictional brother, Murray McKellen, who heads a run-down drama school, the Clapham Academy of Creative Arts, that is hoping to secure new funding through a docu on the school. More..

From www.mirror.co.uk (who tend to exaggerate every fact): Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen was upset on live TV after he was confused with another movie wizard. The actor – who played Gandalf in the hit films – was on US TV’s The View when host Whoopi Goldberg asked: “Are you coming back in Harry Potter.” Sir Ian, 70, looked clearly annoyed as he closed his eyes and paused. He said: “I don’t play Dumbledore – I play Lord of the Rings.” Embarrassed Whoopi apologised before Sir Ian assured her it was a common mistake.

What exactly is going on with the two-part adaptation of The Hobbit? The world seems to be holding its breath in anticipation, including us, but as the calendar turned to November, we turned to a trusted rock-solid inside source and found a dragon’s treasure of updates. Read the rest of this entry »

Thanks to message board member Theodred for alerting us to this story from scifiwire.com: Ian McKellen, whom we expect will put on Gandalf’s gray robes in director Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Hobbit movies, tells us he’s finally read the script for the films. And, no, he won’t tell us much about it, except that producer Peter Jackson (who co-wrote the script with longtime Lord of the Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, as well as del Toro) wrote it specifically for him.

“As Peter has said, they loved writing Gandalf [for The Hobbit] because they knew who they were writing him for,” McKellen told us exclusively in an interview last week while promoting AMC’s The Prisoner. “There are a lot of characters in The Hobbit, including, crucially, Bilbo, and they don’t know who’s going to play Bilbo. So it’s extremely attractive that this part has been written for me. The other Gandalf was written for, well, just as Gandalf. There’s lots for me to enjoy, in all sorts of ways. And I couldn’t be happier. But I’m sworn to secrecy. I’m not to say anything at all about the script.” More..

Shannon writes: Thanks to your reporting I found out about Sir Ian attending the Shakespeare Gala in DC. It was several days after my twenty-first birthday, so I approached my parents asking them if we could make the trek there from New York as my present, and much to my surprise, they agreed. They are well aware of my goal to meet the entire Fellowship and have helped me meet five so far, so it seemed like a great idea to them to help me meet such an awesome number six for my birthday. Read the rest of this entry »

stormcrow20 sends us word that Sir Ian McKellen is set to appear on both The View and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday, November 5, 2009.

Taylor writes: The November issue of DETAILS hits stands this week, and we Legendary British actor Ian McKellen. McKellen opens up to DETAILS about coming out, getting ink and making the bible gay-friendly, one copy at a time. More..

A theatrical legend is in the Capital City looking to inspire the future of the entertainment world. Sir Ian McKellen, who is most notably known for his role as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings and Magneto mag-neat-oh from X-Men, spoke with FSU theatre students Tuesday afternoon sharing his journey from live theatre to the silver screen. “it’s unbelievable. Especially since he’s an Oscar nominated actor, he’s been in Oscar movies, it’s just so unbelievable,” says FSU Theatre student Alyssa Morris. More..

Sir Ian Mckellen is enjoying a relaxing holiday before throwing himself into filming The Hobbit – because it’s the first time he’s taken a break in his entire career. The veteran actor celebrated his 70th birthday in May and admits reaching the landmark age prompted him to slow down his hectic filming schedule and take some time to himself.

He says, “I’m in the middle of a holiday. I’m not working at the moment and it means I can do lovely things. It’s a change for me because, for the first 50 years of my life, I just worked and worked and worked and I didn’t feel happy unless I knew what the next job was going to be. And then I hit 70 this year and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a little bit of downtime for myself.’” More..