There was a time that this would have pleased me. Now I’m just worried they’re going to screw it all up somehow. This… has not been a good couple of decades for beloved franchises.
Get ready to return to the shadows of Middle-earth! Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have officially announced that The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum will hit theaters on December 17, 2027.
This new chapter marks a major reunion of the original trilogy’s creative dream team. Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, the powerhouse trio behind both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, are back on board to produce not one, but two new films set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved world. They’ll be joined by producer Zane Weiner, who also worked on The Hobbit films.
They mention Ian McKellan, later on. …You know who they don’t mention? Viggo Mortensen, that’s who. Say what you like about the man, but I’m having difficulty imagining anybody besides Mortensen in that role. Or rather, I can imagine it — but then I start laughing. In horror.
Moe Lane
PS: Why, no, I am NOT optimistic about this film. What gave it away?
I just refreshed my memory of what happened to Gollum between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
And I have to say, I don’t see a story here. It’s mostly Gollum being imprisoned or trapped. (And if you expand “imprisoned or trapped” to include “irresistibly drawn to Mordor”, virtually all.) You might be able to pull it off with a plucky protagonists the difference want to see escape. But Gollum… isn’t that.
#1, if Viggo can’t or won’t…second chance for Stuart Townsend?
#2, I could not pay to listen to Gollum voice for 3 hours, it’s barely tolerable for 3 minutes.
#3, I’ve always understood the ‘drawn to Mordor’ bit as being due to the only active rings being there, so absent the call of the One Ring, the call of ANY ring will do
(this is an aside really)
#4, won’t the condensed timeframe of the films as compared to the books play havoc with this?