Peter Jackson’s Lord of the rings The film trilogy came out right at the time when the film studios decided that it had to be a major franchise that would last. From that perspective, it’s a little surprising that Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t elevated Tolkien’s work more than they already have. That’s about to change, however, as the company just announced that two new Lord of the Rings films are in the works (you can read the full press release here).
The first is tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, Directed by Andy Serkis – you may remember him for his breakthrough performance as Gollum in Jackson’s previous films. The fact that Serkis is on board and working from a script by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (who co-wrote the previous Middle-earth films with Jackson) makes me feel a little better that this isn’t just another blatant money grab. Peter Jackson will also produce alongside Walsh and Boyens. Serkis previously served as second unit director on “The Hobbit” films and also directed “2022.” Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Given the film’s working title, you won’t be surprised to learn that Serkis also stars again as the titular Gollum. While part of me was interested to see how another actor could take on the character, Serkis has defined Gollum for the big screen in such a way that it’s almost impossible to put anyone else in the role. As for the film, there’s no official word yet – but again, the title suggests that it will take place between the events of The Hobbit And Lord of the rings while Gandalf and Aragorn search Middle Earth for Gollum and try to learn more about the ring that Bilbo and then Frodo possessed.
Given Hollywood’s insatiable hunger for content based on popular franchises, it’s a little surprising that something like this hasn’t happened before. Jackson and company followed the original film trilogy nine years later with the bloated and overly CGI-reliant film series based on it The Hobbit and corresponding events from Tolkien’s LOTR appendices. And of course from Amazon The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power The series debuted in 2022. And before The Hunt for Gollum is coming, we will see another fascinating project: an anime-style film titled The War of the Rohirrim. This film will be released this December and covers events in Rohan a few hundred years ago Lord of the Rings.
As a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I am both skeptical and excited about this announcement. The sad reality in the entertainment world is that projects like this are definitely going to happen; There’s too much money in things like Lord of the Rings to not try to get more out of it. But Serkis seems like an excellent choice to direct this film, and hopefully they can find an exciting, self-contained story that works as a standalone film. The mess made in the Hobbit films makes me suspicious, but even in those films I found plenty of things I enjoyed – and this seems like a good opportunity to set a positive course for more films in to enter Middle-earth.