Andy Serkis will return to his critically acclaimed motion capture role of Gollum in the newly announced Lord of the Rings film, titled The Hunt for Gollum. Serkis, not only returns as an actor, but he takes on the new role of director of this film. The original LOTR director Peter Jackson will serve as a producer of the film alongside his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Interestingly, the film may feature two prominent characters from the original trilogy.
From the title, it is expected that the film will explore J.R.R. Tolkien’s storyline from the book The Fellowship of the Ring involving Gollum and Aragorn. Gandalf the Grey tasks Aragorn with the challenging job of finding Gollum in the Middle-earth.
Andy Serkis’ The Hunt For Gollum Could Bring Back 2 Characters From the Original LOTR Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is now greenlit at Warner Bros. and CEO David Zaslav shared that it will “explore storylines yet to be told” (via Variety). It is one of the few projects developed as part of WB’s deal to make multiple projects based on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s work. While the storyline for the film is under wraps, the title could mean one particular incident from Tolkien’s books.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf the Grey sets out on a long quest to find out if Bilbo had the One Ring. The book mentions that Gandalf spent years looking for Gollum and recruited Aragorn to track down the creature. Aragorn almost gave up the near-impossible task before he found Gollum’s tracks in the Dead Marshes and caught the creature.
However, his real challenge began there — a long journey spanning well over a month to take him to Mirkwood for Gandalf to question him. Tolkien’s book detailed Aragorn’s journey using a single-paragraph excerpt where the character detailed this ordeal during the Council of Elrond. Aragorn narrates (via The Fellowship of the Ring):
“He was covered with green slime. He will never love me, I fear; for he bit me, and I was not gentle. Nothing more did I ever get from his mouth than the marks of his teeth. I deemed it the worst part of all my journey, the road back, watching him day and night, making him walk before me with a halter on his neck, gagged, until he was tamed by lack of drink and food, driving him ever towards Mirkwood. I brought him there at last and gave him to the Elves, for we had agreed that this should be done; and I was glad to be rid of his company, for he stank.”
Andy Serkis‘ new film may be largely based on this excerpt from the first book in the series. However, it also alludes to the possibility that Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen will return to the franchise to reprise Aragorn and Gandalf respectively. More LOTR alums returning might be what hardcore fans of this film need now after the lukewarm response to The Rings of Power.
The Makers Of The Hunt For Gollum Are Super Excited For The Project
The Hunt for Gollum will be released in 2026 and will be preceded by the animated project The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, directed by Kenji Kamiyama. Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, the CEOs of WB Motion Picture Group, shared in a statement that they were honored to partner with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens for another Lord of the Rings film (via Variety).
The three executive producers also expressed their excitement to be working with WB and Serkis. They shared in a joint statement, “It is an honor and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker — Gollum!”
Serkis had a classic response to the project, sharing, “Yesssss, Precious.” Serkis shared his excitement to venture further into the unknown with his filmmaking family in New Zealand.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is now available for streaming on Max. The Rings of Power is now available for streaming on Prime Video.
