Andy Serkis’ “Precious” will return to the big screen. The interpreter of the character in the two trilogies adapted from Tolkien’s novels, will create a new story around the cursed character of Gollum. The plot has not yet been revealed but Warner Bros announced on Wednesday the writing of this new production in the universe of Lord of the Rings. It will be called The Hunt for Gollum. Produced by Ken Kamins, with Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish, the film is scheduled for 2026, thirteen years after the last Hobbit.
The title refers to a note in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings in which Tolkien states that Gandalf and Aragorn hunted Gollum for eight years, “searching the valleys of Anduin, Mirkwood and Rhovanion until to the borders of Mordor. “At some point during these years, Gollum himself ventured into Mordor and was captured by Sauron.” These events occur between those told in the Hobbit and those of the trilogy, when Gollum, stripped of his ring by Bilbo, tries in vain to find the hobbit’s trace.
The idea of adapting this episode for the cinema is not original either. The Hunt for Gollum is the title of a fan-made film of The Lord of the Rings and its adaptation by Peter Jackson. Published in 2009 on YouTube, the forty-minute medium-length film impressed at the time with its quality of production and the care put into the music, costumes and sets.
Since Warner announced its new production, fans have been outraged on social networks. They denounce the suppression of independent films after fifteen years on Youtube and thirteen million views. This filming, directed by Chris Bouchard, was authorized at the time on condition that it did not generate profits on the project. Warner Bros used the image rights so that there would only be one film entitled The Hunt for Gollum.
The Lord of the Rings franchise has grossed nearly three billion dollars worldwide and won 17 Oscars. Between 2012 and 2014, Peter Jackson adapted The Hobbit into three films. And in 2022, Amazon broadcast the first season of the series adapted from Tolkien’s world, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Warner Bros studios have already announced in February 2023 the production of several feature films, including the one planned for 2026. Peter Jackson would remain in charge.
But for those in a hurry, in December an American-Japanese animated film will be released, entitled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The story takes place approximately 200 years before the events described in The Fellowship of the Ring and will be dedicated to the Rohirrim, the horsemen of Rohan.