Is 'Battle Of The 5 Armies' Final Journey For 'The Hobbit' Movies? Sir Ian McKellan Won't Say Goodbye To Gandalf Just Yet!

Peter Jackson managed to stretch three movies out of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, with the final installation of the trilogy, The Battle of the Five Armies, premiering later this month. So will 2014 be the end of Jackson's Tolkien filmmaking that started with The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring so long ago? According to Sir Ian McKellan, who portrayed Gandalf in all six of these franchise films, you should never say never! He's been faced with "the end" before and doesn't think we've seen the last of Middle-Earth.

"I was told by Peter, in 2001, that that was the end, that it was all over," he told the BBC at the London premiere of the film. "Here we are 13 years later. So I don't believe necessarily this is the end of the journey."

The Hollywood Reporter points out that Tolkien fans might look to The Silmarillion for possible source material. So who knows if Jackson or someone else tries to reboot this world in the future!

Speaking with IGN about saying goodbye to Gandalf, McKellan revealed that his busy schedule doesn't really allow him that choice.

"Well, I'm going straight to another job and my focus, I suppose, will just - as I get on the plane will switch to that and there may be a delayed reaction," he said. "As I say, there are premieres, there's AD art to be done, adding the voices. It isn't 'never see you again' sort of thing, it's not saying goodbye. It's not the break-up of a relationship."

From there, McKellan reminds himself of the previous trilogy and how coming back into the role was a bit odd but still very exciting for him. Check out the rest of the interview here!

Check out a new clip from The Battle of the Five Armies here: