Are you ready to return to Middle-Earth? Production on The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum has officially begun, with director/star Andy Serkis getting back into character in a video released by Warner Bros. You can check that out above!
The behind-the-scenes video shows The Hunt for Gollum director Serkis arriving on set, suited up in a motion-capture suit. As he looks through the script, he asks a production assistant, “What are we gonna start with?“
“Scene 1, the beginning,” he responds.
“That’s a very good place to start,” Serkis says. He then lets Gollum take over, snarling, “Action!” as the video cuts to a beautiful drone shot of New Zealand’s mountains.
Although I’m still uncertain whether this film is needed, I’m always down to explore more of Middle-Earth, so consider me cautiously optimistic.
The cast of The Hunt for Gollum was officially revealed at CinemaCon. It confirms Andy Serkis as Gollum/Smeagol, Ian McKellen as Gandalf the Grey, Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, and Lee Pace as Thranduil. Anya Taylor-Joy has also joined the cast as Seren, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm.
Jamie Dornan will be stepping into the role of Strider, aka Aragorn, chief of the Northern Dúnedain Rangers, and Leo Woodall will play Halvard, another one of the Dúnedain. Kate Winslet will play Marigol, the matriarch of a settlement of Hobbit-like folk.
While some are upset that Viggo Mortensen won’t be returning as Aragorn, Serkis seems very happy with Dornan and even said that Mortensen approves. “I really, really don’t want to go into it right now because I do want to save that for further down the line,” Serkis said on the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “We’re at a crunch stage now, we’re just about to start shooting. We’re not far off shooting. So, I’m going to save all discussion about casting, other than that, we are thrilled that Jamie’s doing it. We’re absolutely thrilled. And, by the way, so is Viggo.“
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is currently slated for a December 17, 2027 release. Another new movie, which sports the working title Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, is also in the works, with Steven Colbert writing the script.