While we haven’t received official word that Ian McKellen will return as Gandalf, Andy Serkis as Gollum and Hugo Weaving as Elrond in The Hobbit (all three have been rumored, but the studio has not confirmed), Deadline says that Orlando Bloom is near a deal to return as Legolas, who he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Though Legolas is not in “The Hobbit” book (neither is Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel, who is returning as well), the site adds that the role is more than a cameo.
About McKellen, Serkis and Weaving, Deadline mentions that “those talks have been arduous and aren’t completed yet.”
