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Are you ready to return to Middle Earth? Earlier this year we learned that Peter Jackson will return to the Lord of the Rings franchise with a movie titled The Hunt for Gollum. And who is directing this film? None other than Andy Serkis, the actor who played Gollum via motion capture and voice acting in the original Lord of the Rings films.

Details on the upcoming film are limited, but Serkis shared a few tidbits during an appearance at ACE Superhero Comic Con 2024. “The Hunt for Gollum is a work-in-progress title. It may not end up being called that. It’s going to very much be the world of Middle Earth according to Gollum’s experience of it,” Serkis said.

“It is so early; it would be unfair to commit to anything at this point. But I will say that it will be a deep dive where we investigate Gollum’s character. There may be characters that we recognize that might be coming back. I’m not going to say who.”

“We started to talk about this roughly about eight months or so ago,” Serkis recalled. “They were saying, ‘Andy we really want to reinvigorate Middle Earth. There are so many fresh stories that we want to get involved with. We want to launch this new wave by taking us back into the world of Gollum.’ They asked me to direct. This is a dream come true. To work with the people I love working with in a country I adore working in.”

Serkis took the time to sing the praises of Phillipa Boyens and Fran Walsh, two producers who will be working on the film with him. “I think I’ve got a very psychic connection to Phillipa and Fran. Ever since we’ve first met, we’ve done eight movies now, and this will be our ninth.”

Although it’s been years since Serkis first said, “my precious,” the beloved Gollum has never left his heart. “I see everything as a challenge and an exciting challenge. There is no point in being terrified about it. Gollum has never left me, so he’s still lurking around inside. There isn’t a day that goes past where someone doesn’t go up and ask me about Gollum. In many ways, I’m not scared. The challenge will be telling a great story, and we’re right at the beginning of that process. We’re just about to start writing it. It’s all to come and it’s thrilling. Mildly terrifying.”

Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is expected to hit theaters in 2026.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you from a Lord of the Rings reading guide, a Lord of the Rings watch guide, details on the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, a full the Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch, how the OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat, and the true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.