Warner Bros. has just announced it will return to the well of one of its most valuable IPs, Lord of the Rings, for a new feature film out in 2026.
The movie is called Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, so the catch here is that this is a movie…starring Gollum, which may not be what many fans were hoping for, rather than touching on other aspects or timelines of the larger LOTR universe. Not…more Gollum.
Naturally, Gollum actor Andy Serkis is returning for the role, but not only that, he’s also directing the film. Serkis previously directed the Venom sequel, Let There Be Carnage, and 2018’s Mowgli movie. This would be the first LOTR film not directed by Peter Jackson, who is instead producing. Here’s Serkis had to say about the Gollum film:
“Yesssss, Precious,” Serkis said. “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 Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”
Gollum appeared both in the original trilogy and Peter Jackson’s follow-up Hobbit trilogy to a lesser extent. So this would be the third slate of projects that he’s now in, and a second LOTR film is supposed to be in the works, separate from this one.
Lord of the Rings has been a bit all over the place in recent years. Amazon, with the TV rights, has invested $1 billion into Rings of Power, its massive LOTR show focused on a young Galadriel and Elrond, which aired its first season to somewhat mixed reviews from both critics and fans. At least four more seasons are planned.
Meanwhile, in the gaming space, one of the worst video games in recent memory was in fact…The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a horrific offering from Daedalic Entertainment that was decried as the worst game of 2023 with a shocking 33 on Metacritic. So that’s the last we saw of Gollum (he was not voiced by Serkis there).
It is no surprise that Warner Bros. wants to make more Lord of the Rings films. The original trilogy of movies were all-time fantasy classics beloved by fans and with huge box office returns. The Hobbit films were less beloved, certainly, but still performed great globally, each raking in $950-$1 billion by the end of their run. That’s absolutely something WB wants to see again.
Again, I am skeptical of a new film focused on Gollum as its star, but Serkis has always been excellent in the role, and I’m curious what he will do as a director, even if he’s somewhat still unproven in that realm. More information soon, and maybe we’ll learn what the second movie is as well.
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