At Monday’s world premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in London, Ian McKellen fueled rumors that Peter Jackson would be returning to Middle-earth, saying that he didn’t “believe necessarily that this is the end of the journey.” But at a press conference Tuesday, the director swiftly put down any hopes that he would be delving further between the lines of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works.
“It’s a legal thing. The Tolkien estate owns the writings of Professor Tolkien – The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings were sold by Professor Tolkien the late 60s … the film rights,” he said.