McKellen has high hopes for Lord of the Rings at the Oscars

BBC News reports that, following the best film and best director awards given to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring over the weekend at the British Academy Awards, the film's star Sir Ian McKellen is optimistic about the film's Oscar chances. "The perceived wisdom is that the academy would not vote for a fantasy film," said the openly gay McKellen. "But I think this does not look like a fantasy film. It looks like it could happen." The actor did note differences between the voting members of the British and American academies. "The consistency of the American voters is pretty wide," he said. "There are old Hollywood people, living in old people's homes, who may not get to see all the movies."

McKellen also admitted that there were times when he doubted whether the film would be successful. "I began wondering halfway through the movie whether we were making the most expensive home movie of all time," he said.