Empire recently chatted with Sir Ian McKellan who had plenty to say about a project he's definitely involved in - The Hobbit - and one that he might not be involved in - X-Men Origins: Magneto. When it comes to The Hobbit, it seems the writing process is coming to an end.

The scripts for the two films will be delivered very soon," he revealed. "Then they'll be budgeted, and then they'll be cast. And they'll be going when they've always said they would be, which is next spring - March or April. Guillermo even told me at one point, 'We're going to film for 383 days.' He's got that artistic autism! Jackson's the same; they're very, very, very alike. They also very different, but they've so much in common. They both can't stand Hollywood and have wonderful imaginations, and they're both obsessed with gore and fantasy. Both of them laugh a great deal. Guillermo's one of the most brilliant men I've ever met. His English vocabulary is way superior to mine!"

Talk then shifted to X-Men Origins: Magneto, a project which he revealed there was a script for, but that he probably won't be involved in.

"There's meant to be a Magneto script floating around, but I've not read it, so I suspect it wouldn't involve me," he said. "I think it would be about the younger Magneto, and the most I could hope for would be to top and tail that. They can't have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer!"

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the site's piece with McKellan.