The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies director Peter Jackson has teased what he, Andy Serkis, and Warner Bros. are looking to achieve with Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, saying they want to explore aspects of the character's past they "didn't have time to cover" in the previous six films.
Speaking to Deadline, Jackson suggested the writers don't really know exactly what the film is about yet, as "it's too soon to know who will cross [Gollum's] path", but said both sides of his personality will feature as this is how he connects with fans.
"The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic," Jackson said. "I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us.
"We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from [original author J.R.R. Tolkien."
Little is known about the film, seemingly on the creators' side too, as it was only announced on May 9, 2024, but Serkis is returning to direct and star as Gollum once again. The Hunt for Gollum will be the first of two new Lord of the Rings films from Jackson as Warner Bros. is "hard at work fixing" the "largely underused franchise."
The Lord of the Rings were once a standalone trilogy but the canonical film universe is slowly but surely expanding, first through The Hobbit Trilogy but now through several other films and TV shows.
Amazon has continued The Lord of the Rings with its The Rings of Power TV show, Season 1 of which released in 2022 on Prime Video. The streamer announced it would renew the show for a second season before Season 1 even came out, with Season 2 set to premiere on August 29, 2024.
In February, showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne extended their partnership with Amazon, signing a new three-year deal with the company and kicking off early work on Season 3.
Elsewhere in Tolkien's world sits The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is an animated film set to tell the story behind the fortress of Helm's Deep and the mighty King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand when it premieres on December 13, 2024.
Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
