The main character and director of the movie is «The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum» Andy Serkis teases that the new project in the franchise will be «unexpected» and very exciting.
The film will reveal the dark stages of Gollum’s life between the events of «The Hobbit» and «The Lord of the Rings» — the time when he was obsessed with the ring and gradually lost the remnants of his humanity. According to Serkis, this part of the story will gain new depth and drama. For fans, the movie will be familiar in spirit, but will present the plot from an unexpected angle.
«I’m incredibly excited to go back and work with my friends and family in New Zealand and actually do something which is, I think, going to be surprising, and yet very much part of the lore and the feel of the trilogy. The sensibility of it will feel, I think, close to that, and yet we’re investigating in greater depth the character formerly known as Smeagol, but mostly known as Gollum», — Serkis said.
Filming is scheduled for early or mid-2026. For now, the team is focused on script development and pre-production. The main filming will traditionally take place in New Zealand. Warner Bros. hopes to complete the movie by the end of 2027 in order to in time for the December 17 release. Considering that it has already been postponed.
«We’re very early on in the process. We’ve been talking about the film over the course of the last year. We’re about to start a period of prep in the next few months or so» — the director explained.
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, the screenwriters and producers of the classic trilogy, have joined the production. They are working to ensure that the film has a tone close to the original trilogy, but with a new emphasis on the psychological development of the character.
The film may also bring back other familiar characters, such as Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), if they agree and their health permits. But such a return is a big question, as the Gandalf actor is 85 years old. Therefore, it is not yet known who will be assigned to the role.
This is already the third large-scale project based on Tolkien in recent years. Even earlier, it was released Anime «The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirim»and the series «The Rings of Power» from Amazon is being prepared for a third season. The first season still holds the title of Prime Video’s largest television premiere to date, while the second collected the largest number of views compared to other series’ sequels.
Spelling error report
The following text will be sent to our editors: