Return to Middle-earth is delayed because the movie «The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum» was postponed.
Director Andy Serkis confirmed that the film will not premiere in December 2026. A new story about Middle Earth will appear no earlier than December 2027. The team is still in the «writing process», most likely, the script. The rest of the preparations are scheduled for this year.
«We will be prepping later this year. Prep takes a good chunk of time, six or seven months, and then we will be shooting next year. So, it backs into that December 2027 release dat», — Serkis says at Fan Expo Vancouver 2025.
«The Hunt for Gollum» will not be part of a larger trilogy, but a standalone story that will tell what happened behind the scenes during the earlier part of «The Fellowship of the Ring». Upon Sauron’s return, Gandalf and Aragorn decided to track Gollum to learn more about the antagonist’s plans and find a connection to the One Ring.
The development of the film was announced in May 2024, when Warner Bros. announced its name Actor Ian McKellen (who played Gandalf) said that the movie will be released in two parts but he was wrong. But later announced two films based on «The Lord of the Rings»and not just one.
It is not known whether Ian McKellen will play Gandalf again, as he is 85 years old. The actor said he would wait for the script and then decide. He added that he would not want anyone else to play his character.
Besides, AI will be used to rejuvenate characters. In particular, Orlando Bloom discussed the idea of playing Legolas with the creators. Also, director Andy Serkis is working on a parallel project on another project with «AI characters».
Source: Games Radar
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