‘The Hunt For Gollum’ By Andy Serkis.
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav announced in an investor call in May that “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum” would be released in 2026 and “explore storylines yet to be told”. Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will reprise his role and also direct the new film. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (LOTR trilogy) will write the screenplay along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (who scripted the upcoming animated film “The War of the Rohirrim”). Presumably, the movie will be a prequel as Gollum died at the end of 2003’s “The Return of the King”. LOTR trilogy creator Peter Jackson will produce the film along with his writing partners Walsh and Boyens.
“The Hunt for Gollum” will be split into two parts, with the first one slated to release in 2026. Serkis will star in and direct both films.
In a statement released in May, Serkis expressed his excitement about the project. “Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle-Earth, Peter, Fran and Phillipa. With Mike and Pam (co-CEO Warner Bros Pictures) and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our filmmaking family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”
Sir Ian Mckellen recently told The Big Issue that he has been approached about featuring in the new LOTR film. “Enthusiasm for The Lord of the Rings shows no signs of abating… I can’t tell you any more than that. I’ve just been told there are going to be more films and Gandalf will be involved and they hope that I’ll be playing him”. McKallen added “When? I don’t know. what the script is? It’s not written yet. So, they better be quick.”
McKellen, 85, who starred as Gandalf in all of Jackson’s original movies and the Hobbit trilogy, recently had a fall off the stage in “Player Kings” in London’s West End, and suffered a broken wrist, but said he had physically recovered. His return to the franchise would be a major coup for Serkis.
McKellen said he is taking the rest of 2024 off, meaning he could return to acting next year, which is likely when the new LOTR movies will go into production.
Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to make more films based on J.R.R Tolkein’s fantasy work and the world founded on Peter Jackson’s original trilogy of film, with one corresponding to each books.
The good news for the LOTR fans is that Peter Jackson is a producer on the project and his writing partners, who wrote some of the best screenplays in cinema, with meticulous attention to detail on the original trilogy are back to write the new scripts. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are set to write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim— the upcoming anticipated series about Helm’s Deep). Boyens teased that Serkis will have his own “interesting” take on the story.
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said Peter, Walsh and Boyens “will be involved every step of the way”.
Orlando Bloom who starred in the original films, recently confirmed that he and all of the main cast from the films have been approached to return for the new ‘Gollum’ films. He also shared that the film is supposed to take place right after the events of 2003’s ‘The Return of the King’. but given that Gollum died at the end of that film, we can wonder how will they write the story forward.
If you’re wondering how Wood, Bloom, Mortensen, Mckellen and Bean might return after having aged 20 years. Serkis might have found the answer. It was reported that Andy might use AI technology to de-age the actors. (like ‘The Irishman’)
Serkis is truly an underrated motion capture acting pioneer, especially for his work on “Planet of the Apes” movies. He’s directed three films in his career (“Breathe”, “Mowgli” and “Venom 2”). Out of many projects that Serkis is currently working on, my most anticipated of them is the animated feature of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”. it was penned by Nicholas Stroller and wrapped production recently.
The original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, helmed by Jackson, grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide; Jackson’s follow-up trilogy based on Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” matched those grosses. The original trio of films was nominated for 30 Academy Awards and took home 17 trophies, including best picture for 2003’s “Return of the King”.
“I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide”
