“The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” has found the actors: Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are officially back – in addition we get Jamie Dornan as Aragorn and several stars
Midgard came to Las Vegas when Warner Bros. held its CinemaCon event on Tuesday. The studio revealed several names for the upcoming film “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” which is directed by Andy Serkis. The film will premiere in theaters on December 17, 2027.
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In addition to directing, Serkis himself plays the role of Gollum/Sméagol. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf, Elijah Wood returns as Frodo Lommelun, and Lee Pace reprises his role as Thranduil. All-new faces in the Lord of the Rings universe include Kate Winslet as Marigol and Leo Woodall as Halvard. Jamie Dornan will also play the role of Strider, who later in the original novel turns out to be Aragorn. The film will depict the hunt for the named, corrupt hobbit in the years leading up to the events of the first part of the trilogy, “The Fellowship of the Ring”.
The original trilogy’s screenwriters, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, are joined by Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou in the work of adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories.
Tolkien originally wrote the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the 1950s, after the success of “The Hobbit” in 1937. Peter Jackson adapted The Lord of the Rings into three films in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and then expanded “The Hobbit” into his own film trilogy in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The original films were milestones – and an Oscar machine
The original Lord of the Rings films were groundbreaking both cinematically and technically. They brought in a total of almost $3 billion worldwide and won a total of 17 Academy Awards. The third film, “Yet Another King”, won the award for Best Picture in 2004, along with a total of 11 Oscar statuettes – which is a record.
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Andy Serkis’ performance as Gollum in the second and third films was revolutionary in motion capture technology, with groundbreaking digital effects from Weta Digital. Serkis reprised the role of Gollum in the first Hobbit film in 2012.
Back to Middle-earth – both in cinemas and streaming
New Line Cinema previously returned to Middle-earth in 2024 with the animated cinema film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”. Amazon-MGM is also adapting Tolkien’s world under a separate rights agreement with the author’s estate, and the third season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is currently being made for the streaming service Amazon Prime.
