The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

"Things that were, things that are, and some things that have not yet come to pass." As this article concerns something not yet released, it is subject to major changes.

This article is about the unreleased Warner Bros. production. For the fan film, see The Hunt for Gollum (fan film).

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
Directed by	Andy Serkis
Produced by	Peter Jackson Fran Walsh Philippa Boyens Pamela Abdy, Jonathan Cavendish, Mike De Luca, Ken Kamins, Andy Serkis and David Zaslav.
Written by	Fran Walsh Philippa Boyens Phoebe Gittins Arty Papageorgiou
Starring	Andy Serkis
Music by	Howard Shore
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	December 17, 2027
Country	United States
Language	English

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is the working title of an upcoming film produced by Warner Bros. under its New Line Cinema studio and distribution subsidiary. It will be directed by Andy Serkis with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens as producers, and was set to be released in 2026, but slipped to December 2027 according to Serkis. In early May 2025, its premiere date was set at December 17, 2027.

Cast

• Andy Serkis as Gollum
• Orlando Bloom as Legolas
• Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn II
• Sean Bean as Boromir
• Ian McKellen as Gandalf
• John Rhys-Davies rumored as Gimli
• Liv Tyler as Arwen
• Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins
• Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins
• Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee
• Sala Baker as Sauron
• Cate Blanchett as Galadriel
• Hugo Weaving as Elrond
• Marton Csokas as Celeborn
• Mark Ferguson as Gil-galad
• Craig Parker as Haldir (Lothlórien)
• Lori Dungey as Mrs. Bracegirdle

Plot

The film depicts the titular "hunt for Gollum," prior to the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. During this period, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Sauron are all looking for Gollum. The story is told from Gollum's perspective.

Development

Discussions for another Lord of the Rings film began sometime after the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Serkis was brought onboard around November 2023, as Warner Bros. wanted to rejuvenate the Middle-earth IP, starting with a Gollum film.^{[citation needed]} Serkis was asked to direct with Peter Jackson returning to produce. As of December 2024, Philippa Boyens is working on a script or treatment.

Notes

• As of May, 2024, The Hunt for Gollum is one of two The Lord of the Rings films intended to be produced. The second is another live-action movie that is currently unnamed.
  • Apparently Ian McKellen may have prompted a rumor that The Hunt for Gollum would be two films.
• Ian McKellen stated in June, 2024, that he had heard Gandalf would appear in the film, but that he had not been approached to reprise the role. In September of the same year, he confirmed that he had been approached to reprise it for both Hunt and other films that would involve Gandalf.
  • In the same month, Serkis hinted that there would be characters returning to the film, stating "there may be characters that we recognize that might be coming back. I’m not going to say who."
• In September 2024, it was confirmed that Orlando Bloom had spoken to Serkis concerning reprising his role as Legolas. The use of AI to make the character appear younger was discussed.
• On December 4, 2024, it was reported from an interview excerpt that Philippa Boyens expressed the development team's hope that Viggo Mortensen would return to play Aragorn. She also said she, Andy Serkis, and Peter Jackson had all spoken to him, however his return has not been confirmed as of March 2025.