We’ve reported before about Peter Jackson talking up this summer as the planned start date for shooting The Hobbit. Now Gandalf himself – better known as Ian McKellen – has posted on his website that he’ll start shooting the first movie in July.While New Line has yet to make any official announcement about an official greenlight, the schedule or the cast, we’re frankly inclined to believe McKellen.He goes on to relate the following: “Filming will take over a year. Casting in Los Angeles, New York City and London has started. The script too proceeds. The first draft is crammed with old and new friends, again on a quest in Middle Earth. The director Guillermo del Toro is now living in Wellington, close to the Jacksons' and the studio in Miramar. “Much of which we could have guessed, but when Gandalf tells you it’s happening, you listen.