These days, most of Hollywood’s major movie franchises are receiving continuations of some sort, andThe Lord of the Ringsis no exception. In addition to Amazon’sRings of PowerTV series and last year’s animated prequelThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, at least two new live-action films are being developed by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. The first isAndy Serkis’The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, with the director also reprising the role of the titular character he made iconic with his motion capture performances inPeter Jackson’sLord of the Ringsfilm trilogy. Although Jackson and other members of the filmmaking teams behind the original trilogy and the one based onJ.R.R. Tolkien’sThe Hobbitare also involved, Serkis is so far the only officially announced cast member for the film, which is currently set for release in 2027. However,he is seemingly going to be joined by at least two of his previous castmates.
At the For the Love of Fantasy event,Sir Ian McKellen, who has famously played the wizard Gandalf in all the Jackson films, revealed thathis character will be appearing inThe Hunt for Gollum, as will the Hobbit Frodo Baggins, previously played byElijah Wood, who was also at the panel where the announcement was made. Although McKellen’s words only specifically state that the characters appear in the new film’s script, his and Wood’s expressions during the announcement to a panel full of fans all but guarantee that both actors will in fact be reprising their roles. But as exciting as this is,Frodo’s involvement in particular raises a lot of questionsabout how the new film will connect to and fitwithin the established continuity, making the project a big risk for the franchise.
Frodo Doesn’t Meet Gollum Until ‘The Two Towers’
Like his literary counterpart, Gollum, formerly a Stoor Hobbit named Sméagol, appears in all three installments ofLord of the Rings, though only briefly in the first,The Fellowship of the Ring. Gollum’s encounter with Frodo’s uncle Bilbo (Ian Holm), fromThe Hobbit,which results in Bilbo taking the One Ring, is frequently referenced, and after identifying the Ring, Gandalf speculates that the servants of its creator, the Dark Lord Sauron, may learn that it is at the Baggins’ home in The Shire by finding and interrogating Gollum, which they do through torture.Gollum is next seen covertly following the Fellowship during their travels through the dwarf Mines of Moria.
Although it’s entirely believable that Gandalf could have had other encounters with Gollum, given his centuries-long mission of protecting and aiding the people of Middle-earth. Though it’s worth acknowledging that any such scenes contradicting the written canon will surely still frustrate many fans. All the relevant dialogue and plot points in the trilogy make it clear thatthe Moria scene is Frodo’s first interaction with Gollum,with their first more direct encounter coming when Frodo andSamwise Gamgee(Sean Astin) trap the creature at the beginning of the second film,The Two Towers. Given this, the only way forThe Hunt for Gollum’s story to take place in the same erais if it depicts the events surrounding Gollum’s capture, torture, and eventual escape from Sauron’s forces in Mordorand/or the intervening period before he reaches Moria. Series screenwriterPhillipa Boyensdescribed this as being the case in a2024 interview with Empire, and there is a basis for such a storyline in the written canon.
Frodo’s ‘Hunt for Gollum’ Role Could Contradict ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’
TheFellowshipnovel describes Gollum being captured by Aragorn and the Wood Elves of Mirkwood and interrogated by Gandalf after leaving Mordor,only to then escape that group before ultimately making his way to Moria.While this initially seems like an ideal bit of lore for the new movie to focus on, as it could lead toViggo Mortensenalso reprising his role as Aragorn—possibly even along withOrlando Bloomdoing so as Legolas, who is a Wood Elf—this part of the plot is more sensible in the novel, in which 17 years pass between Bilbo leaving the Shire and Frodo coming into possession of the Ring. Not to mention Gandalf’s return when he actually charges Frodo with taking the Ring to Rivendell.
The film drastically reduces the size of this interval, seemingly into a matter of months at most, with Gandalf appearing to return to the Shire as soon as he confirms his suspicions about the Ring, andno mention being made of Gollum being captured again.Therefore, viewers only familiar with the film continuity may not believe that a significant storyline involving both Gollum and other main characters occurred so shortly before their next appearances.Frodo’s role would also have to be extremely limited so that he does not learn new information about Gollumand/or the Ring before he does so in the trilogy.
The most intuitive ways to still include Frodo in the film are for the story to instead take place between the events ofThe Hobbitand the start ofFellowship’s main narrative, with a different actor playing a significantly younger Frodo, or for his scenes to flash forward in some way connected to Gollum’s main plot—as was the case with Wood’s appearance inThe Hobbittrilogy.But, again, McKellen and Wood’s expressions during the announcement indicate that the former isn’t happening, and if the latter is the case and Wood’s latest appearance is again little more than a cameo, it’s surprising they would reveal it so early.
Most fans would likely refuse to even consider the possibility of the film taking place after Gollum’s death inThe Return of the King, which would completely defy Tolkien’s original source material, and the filmmaking team presumably knows this and will instead work to fit the new story into the existing film canon. But the difficulties of convincingly doing so, especially with this assortment of characters and time period, highlight that, as intriguing as Serkis returning to his signature character is,this film specifically is a huge gamble that could damage theLord of the Ringstrilogy’s revered reputation.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
