“The universe imagined by JRR Tolkien remains largely unexplored”. In 2023, the CEO of Warner Bros recalled the importance of the stamp The Lord of the Rings within its catalog. After six films, the firm intends to increase its explorations of Middle-earth, to continue the path initiated by Peter Jackson in 2001. A year later, “Lord of the Ring : The Hunt of Gollum” was made official with Andy Serkis in front of and behind the camera.
The actor has lent his features to the character since The Fellowship of the Ring. If the project is still very mysterious, we already know that it will involve revisiting certain highlights from the main saga through his eyes. For now, no other participation has been officially announced. Andy Serkis was the guest of the ACE Superhero Comic Con and spoke about this project. He indicated that some “characters we know” could be on the trip. He adds :
“It’s going to be very close to the world of Middle-earth as Gollum experienced it. It’s still early days, it would be unfair to commit to anything at this stage. But I will say it’s going to be a deep dive into the character’s history. There may be people we recognize, but I won’t say who…”
Shedding light on the dark areas
Without going into details, the filmmaker does not rule out the return of some emblematic figures from Peter Jackson’s two trilogies. Several actors have already confided their desire to returnto start with Viggo Mortensen who plays Aragorn and Ian McKellen who plays Gandalf. At 65 and 85 years old respectively, the two men are clearly not ready to say goodbye. Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, Bill Boyd and Dominic Monaghan have not yet been asked for their opinions on the matter, but Smeagol’s journey is closely linked to that of the Hobbits. Peter Jackson explained last May:
“We really want to explore his past and all the parts of his journey that we didn’t get to cover in the previous films. It’s too early to know who he’ll meet, but suffice it to say that we’ll be following JRR Tolkien’s lead.”
What we know about the project
It was last May that “The Hunt for Gollum” was made official. David Zaslav immediately confirmed l’implication de Peter Jackson as a producer as well as his close collaborators of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. They will also work to the scenarioas they had done for the previous films. Andy Serkis is the only actor announced for the cast of this ambitious project. The coming months should tell us more about the matter, especially as the release date is fast approaching. The appointment already made for the year 2026Warner Bros. therefore has just over two years to bring this epic to fruition. Serkis specified that the first discussions took place in October 2023, confirming that Warner Bros. has no intention of dragging things out.
Note that the title “The Hunt for Gollum” is provisional and that it could change as development progresses. With such a schedule, Warner Bros should not wait too long before launching hostilities. In the meantime, the worshipers of Lord of the Rings will be able to console themselves with the prospect of finding The Rings of Power next August on Prime Video and with the anime The Rohirrim War in December at the cinema.
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