Peter Jackson has already made six films set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels. And now he’s going back to Middle-earth to help create two new The Lord of the Rings films.
These movies were officially announced by Warner Bros. today; the first of the pair is tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that Jackson along with his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens “will be involved every step of the way” on the new films.
Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films, will both star in and direct The Hunt for Gollum.
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Suddenly The Lord of the Rings is a huge multimedia franchise again. Jackson turned Tolkien’s three LOTR novels into films in the early 2000s, then turned the one book of The Hobbit into three more films in the 2010s. Amazon’s Prime Video service is currently streaming a massive The Lord of the Rings TV series called The Ring of Power. And Warner Bros. also has an animated Lord of the Rings movie titled The War of the Rohirrim that is currently scheduled to open in theaters in December of this year.
Jackson and Serkis’ new movie will supposedly “explore storylines yet to be told,” according to Zaslav.
Jackson, Boyens and Walsh gave this statement on the news:
It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker – Gollum! … As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!
The first of these new Lord of the Rings movies is currently expected to open in theaters in 2026.
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