Where’s Gollum? Has anyone seen Gollum? Warner Bros. Discovery was certainly looking for him (or, more precisely, a way to cash in on their The Lord of the Rings’ intellectual property rights).
Today, during the corporation’s first-quarter earnings conference call (via The Hollywood Reporter), CEO David Zaslav announced that New Line and Warner Bros. Pictures are in the “early stages of script development” for a LOTR movie tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and is eying the film to come out sometime in 2026.
There are, of course, six existing features set in the fantastical world that J.R.R. Tolkien created—the three Lord of the Rings films and the three Hobbit films, all of which were spearheaded by Peter Jackson. For those having feelings about a LOTR film without Jackson being involved, I’ve got news for you: According to Zaslav, Jackson and his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens “will be involved every step of the way” in the upcoming film, with Boyens and Walsh penning the script.
For those wondering if this Gollum movie will be a one-and-done endeavor, I have more news for you: Jackson et al signed a two-film deal with Warner Bros., so the odds are very good that this is only the first of many additional LOTR movies coming our way.
“It is an honor and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that stinker—Gollum!,” Jackson, Boyens and Walsh said in a statement. “As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with [Warner Bros. Discovery film execs] Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”
Serkis, who of course played Gollum in the previous films, also expressed his excitement about the project in the same statement: “Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle-earth Peter, Fran and Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros. team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious… .”
[ed. note: if it’s not too forward of us, we have a suggestion for Mr. Serkis that can be best communicated via a reference to The Simpsons:]
The movies, of course, are completely separate from the Prime Video series that Amazon has developed, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. We’ve also seen Gollum recently in a much-maligned video game, but here’s to opening this upcoming film will be more entertaining to experience.
