Warner Bros has announced a new Lord of the Rings. Andy Serkis will once again play Gollum

The working title of the film is The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Gollum, possessed of a magical ring, is a fictional character who first appeared in the fantasy novel The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, after which he played a major role in the epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings.

It was filmed here between 2001 and 2003 by director Peter Jackson, who subsequently also filmed the three-part Hobbit between 2012 and 2014. Jackson is also supposed to participate in the upcoming news, but only in the role of producer. “He will oversee every step,” promises David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros. Discovery.

According to him, the new film is inspired by Tolkien’s books and will once again take viewers to Middle Earth full of humans, elves, dwarves and hobbits. The script is still in the early stages of development, with New Zealanders Fran Walsh, who is Jackson’s partner and the mother of his children, working on it with Philippa Boyens. Both were also signed under the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Variety.com adds.

David Zaslav has been looking for other ways to re-monetize well-known “brands” from the company’s portfolio since taking over as head of Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022. Similarly, Zaslav has already announced that the company will produce a remake of Harry Potter, this time in the form of a TV series. “The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and admired series of all time. It represents a huge opportunity for filmmakers,” notes Zaslav.

Six films from the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series have so far grossed over six billion dollars worldwide, which is more than 138 billion crowns. The final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy: The Return of the King in 2003 received 11 Oscars, including a statuette for Best Picture.

Warner Bros. Discovery will start returning to the world of The Lord of the Rings this December, when Czech cinemas will also show the animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. It is supposed to take place roughly 200 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings and tell the story of the most famous king of Rohan called Helm the Hammer. He will be voiced by Brian Cox known from the series Struggle for Power. The authors promise to follow the basic rules of Tolkien’s world. The animated film was directed by Kenji Kamiyama.

The server of The Hollywood Reporter points out that if the name of the upcoming project The Hunt for Gollum is familiar to fans, then it is not an oversight – a fan film was created under this name in 2009. Filmed by Chris Bouchard, it lasts 39 minutes.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the very announcement of a new feature from the world of The Lord of the Rings is causing more caution among Tolkien’s admirers, among other reasons, due to the weak response of the previous year’s TV series The Rings of Power. Others point out that Gollum was only a minor character until now. Last year’s computer game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum tried to push him to the forefront.