Summary
Andy Serkis has some great news for fans who have been patiently waiting foran update onThe Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumfilm status, and he’s very excited about returning to the iconic franchise once more. This time around, Serkis won’t only reprise his groundbreaking role as the creature named Gollum, who came into possession of the powerful ring known as the One Ring, but the English actor will also be sliding into the director’s chair ahead ofThe Lord of the Rings’prequel December 2027 release.
This isn’t Serkis' first time helming a film. The 61-year-old from Middlesex, England, made his directorial debut with the 2017 movieBreathe, which starred Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville, and Tom Hollander. He also directed and starred in the filmMowgli: Legend of the Jungle,and in 2019, adding to his already impressive list,Serkis directed the superhero filmVenom: Let There Be Carnage, the sequel toVenom,starring Tom Hardy, Stephen Graham, and Woody Harrelson. However, it’s Serkis' motion-capture work that captivated fans as he took on incredible roles like Caesar inRise of the Planet of the Apes,Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, andWar for the Planet of the Apes,as well as jumping into the video game world with developers Ninja Theory onHeavenly Swordas the game’s villain,King Bohan.
Andy Serkis Provides a Big Filming Update on The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
Speaking about heading back into Middle-earth withCollider, Andy Serkis revealed that he was “incredibly excited” about being able to work with his colleagues once again onThe Hunt for Gollum, as well asheading back to New Zealand whereThe Lord of the Ringsmovies were originally shot.Although Serkis said that the film was still in the early stages of development and that it was a pretty “sizable movie” in terms of production, he did reveal that shootingforTheLord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumwill go ahead “in the early to mid-part of next year.“Serkis also disclosed that the upcoming movie would be “surprising,” yet it would still be very much a part of the lore that fans hold dear from the beloved trilogy, while teasing that new depths to Gollum will be explored.
“We’re very early on in the process. We’ve been talking about the film over the course of the last year. We’re about to start a period of prep in the next few months or so. We will be shooting in the early to mid-part of next year, I guess, and then it’ll be as long as it takes to shoot, which — it’s a sizable movie — all ready for a December 2027 release. I’m incredibly excited to go back and work with my friends and family in New Zealand and actually do something which is, I think, going to be surprising, and yet very much part of the lore and the feel of the trilogy. The sensibility of it will feel, I think, close to that, and yet we’re investigating in greater depth the character formerly known as Smeagol, but mostly known as Gollum.”
The Hunt for Gollumwill feature the original fellowship of producers Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh. The prequel to the original trilogy will explore the events between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, and will spotlight Aragorn’s quest to find and capture Gollum, who possessescrucial knowledge about the One Ring. The most exciting part for Tolkien fans is thatThe Hunt for Gollumwill lift the veil on the darker aspects of Middle-earth and look to expand on the captivating lore established by the magic set out by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Althoughthe film was originally due to be released this year, it received a setback, with Serkis revealing that fans can expect it to premiere in 2027, but thankfully,The Hunt for Gollumnow seems to be right on track.The Hunt for Gollum’s release dateis June 17, 2025, coinciding withThe Return of the King, marking a long-awaited return to Middle-earth.
