A FILM version of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit is being planned by Hollywood - and Sir Ian McKellen is likely to take up again his role as Gandalf.

Former Bolton School boy Sir Ian, who played Gandalf in the film adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, is being lined up for Peter Jackson's latest big-screen production.

According to showbiz newspaper Variety, The Hobbit is one of a series of films listed as due to be made for MGM, which was recently taken over by Sony.

The studio reportedly plans a co-production with New Line, which financed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and with which it co-owns the film rights to The Hobbit.

Jackson has in the past appeared keen to film The Hobbit, which is the story of how Bilbo Baggins stole from Gollum the one ring of the later books while on an adventure in the Misty Mountains with Gandalf and an array of dwarfs.

"I think there is probably a will and a desire to try and get The Hobbit made," Jackson said.

Also in MGM's plans, according to Variety, is a fourth Terminator film, a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair and a second instalment of Steve Martin's take on the Pink Panther.