[Mithalwen]

I think the idea of a link movie has been dropped and it is going to be Hobbit in two parts (I am not sure this will work but I guess they think it will make them more money and that is in short supply atm) . Unless they decide to sub a Lorien interlude (which doens't tie with the established hostility between silvan elves and dwarves) for the Beorn sequence which doesn't really fit the movie-verse already created, it will have to be White Council for Galadriel and that would surely include Saruman too.

I think I read that Sir Christopher is not up to returning to NZ but since this is away from the main plot I don't see why the White Council could not be filmed in the UK - Blanchett and Weaving do loads of stuff here anyway.