New Lord of the Rings movie is on the way with an original cast member returning

Familiar face will return for new Middle Earth adventure

A fan favourite Lord of the Rings character is returning in a brand new film produced by Peter Jackson.

Ahead of season two of Prime Video series The Rings of Power, it’s been announced that the director of the original trilogy, released in 2001 and 2003, will collaborate on the project, which will focus on Andy Serkis’s Gollum – and be directed by Serkis.

It’s being made under the working title Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and it will be the first of a series of new films, set within Middle Earth, planned for release in the next decade and beyond.

According to Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Jackson, alongside producing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, “will be involved every step of the way.

In February, it was revealed that several new series of Lord of the Rings films were in the works – and The Hunt for Gollum will be the first of these.

Serkis said of the news: “Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our filmmaking family in New Zealand. It’s just all too delicious.”

Meanwhile, Jackson, Walsh and Boyens added: “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!”

Gollum in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ films (New Line Cinema)

Serkis recently directed Tom Hardy in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and is set to direct an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

When Warner Bros announced plans to make more Lord of the Rings films, Serkis said he would “jump at the chance” to reunite with Jackson, Walsh and Boyens. Meanwhile, original trilogy star Elijah Wood, who played Frodo Baggins, said he was “surprised” by the news.

Earlier this week, veteran Bernard Hill, who appeared in the original trilogy as King Theoden, died aged 79, prompting tributes from his Lord of the Rings cast mates.

In 2022, the actor revealed he was not a fan of Prime Video’s “money-making” franchise extension The Rings of Power, arguing that Jackson’s trilogy should have “completely” put an end to future Tolkien adaptations.

The new Lord of the Rings film will be released in 2026.