Man dressed as Gandalf bumps into Ian McKellen on pub crawl

What are the chances? A man dressed as Lord of the Rings' Gandalf has somehow bumped into actor Ian McKellen while on a night out.

As posted on TikTok by his friend Scarlet Learmonth, Ben Coyles was in costume on a pub crawl in Bristol, England when he met the Gandalf actor. McKellen portrayed the wizard across all three Lord of the Rings movies and The Hobbit Trilogy.

Another friend, Felix Spencer, spoke to The Lancashire Telegraph about the magical experience.

"We were on the penultimate pub on the pub crawl and, as we’re walking there, someone comes up behind me and asks if he’d like our Gandalf to meet the real Gandalf," Spencer said.

"I assumed it was someone just joking around but when I turn around to talk to him he gestures towards his friend. It takes me a while to realize at first but then I see that it is, in fact, Ian McKellen."

The chance McKellen meeting comes off the back of the announcement that new Lord of the Rings movies are in the works at Warner Bros. Discovery.

One of the OG trilogy’s stars, Elijah Wood, has expressed surprise at the decision – but is excited to see what comes next in Middle-earth.

"I'm fascinated and I'm excited," Wood told GQ. "I hope it's good. I'm surprised – I don't know why I'm surprised because of course there would be more movies.”

In the television space, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is currently filming in the UK – though one of its villains has been recast.

For more, here are the new TV shows we’ve got coming our way in 2023 and beyond.