Andy Serkis’ upcoming “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,” which would reunite most of the original cast for this new instalment, starts production in May.
Last year, Ian McKellen let it slip that it might actually be split into two movies before producers backtracked a few days later, saying, “no no, what he meant was there a whole separate movie in the works, having nothing to do with ‘Gollum.’”
Well, what is Lord of the Rings without ambition? We’ve already had two trilogies happen, the other being the much-divisive ‘Hobbit’ releases. How about another one?
In the latest episode of The Hot Mic, Jeff Sneider mentions having heard that ‘Gollum’ might be the first of three films. Now, the first thing that popped into my head is whether they are just going to shoot all three at the same time, much like Peter Jackson did with the original trilogy. No word yet on whether that is indeed the plan.
The film would reunite much of the original cast, including Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, and Orlando Bloom, but sans Viggo Mortensen, who decided not to return for this prequel. McKellen is 86, and I just can’t see him going through the process of shooting back-to-back-to-back films.
Anyways, something to keep an eye on. The first instalment, ‘The Hunt for Gollum,’ is scheduled for December 17, 2027 via Warner Bros. McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, and Orlando Bloom are all supposed to return, but not Viggo Mortensen, who decided not to come back for this prequel, and there have been casting calls for auditions to replace his Aragorn — they are looking for an actor in his early 30s.
Oh yeah, this is actually a prequel; ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ is set during ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ era, shortly before Frodo Baggins leaves the Shire for Rivendell. The film starts with Gandalf sending Aragorn on a quest to find Gollum. McKellen, Wood, and company, all of whom have aged by 20 years, will be brushed up with AI technology and digital makeup.
This is all very ambitious, but my main concern is Serkis, who will reprise his role as Gollum but is also directing the film, msybe trilogy. Somehow, Warner Bros. gave the green light to Serkis’ expensive ‘Hunt for Gollum,’ and that was before his upcoming “Animal Farm” had its trailer mocked online. In fact, Serkis’ directing work, which includes “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” doesn’t give one much hope that ‘Gollum’ will turn out great. Here’s hoping I’m proven wrong.
No official figure has been reported, but best guess is the budget landed somewhere in the $10M range. HBO pre-bought the streaming rights, but that was before David Ellison took over