Peter Jackson is back? LotR: Hunt for Gollum coming in 2026 - News & some Speculation

Andy Serkis, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will make new LotR related films. First one has the working title "Hunt for Gollum" and will be directed by Andy Serkis. PJ, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens will be producers and work on the screenplay with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou.

Gittins and Papageorgiou are also the screen writers for The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim and will work The Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum (work title) as well.

► Disclaimer:
I have permission of the artists to use their art works.

► Artwork and special thanks to:

► Sources:
The Lord of The Rings (1954-1955) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion (1977)
The Hobbit (1937; 1951)
Unfinished Tales (1980)
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981)

LotR & Hobbit FIlms

Articles:

► Mistakes:
-

► Playlists:
If you are interested in Tolkien's legendary fantasy Epic The Lord of the Rings and his related works, here some recommendations:

► Time Codes:
Intro - 0:00

► Social Media:
The Philosopher's Games / TPhGames / TPhLore aka Chris

► Of Games and Rings Podcast:

#LotR #Tolkien #LordOfTheRings

[ThePhilosophersGames]

I'm tired and need to sleep now. I will answer comments later 😅 There might be some mistakes. Video took longer to make than I anticipated and also got longer then planned. I still hope you found it interesting. Shout-outs to Jenny Dolfen, I used one of her art works in the video. Her gallery and also the articles should all be linked in the description - as always.

Please, be nice in the comments ^^

[RicoThingol]

I really still like the first Hobbit movie and especially the Gollum scenes, I am honestly optimistic, at least these showrunners respect Tolkien.

[AJX-]

If its anywhere near as good as the Gollum game, this could become a true modern classic! Thank you, Warner Bros!

[istari]

That Jackson and Co are being brought in to oversee this is excellent news. The biggest issue to my mind is will the studio meddle like they did with the Hobbit movies (which IMHO was the reason for most of the problems with them) or will they take a more hands off approach as they did with LOTR. The hunt for Gollum is certainly not my first choice for the storyline of a new movie but done right this could be interesting. I strongly suspect the focus will be on Gandalf and Aragorn, not Gollum. Recasting the characters will be a perilous exercise; I think I prefer bringing back the original cast and using de-aging technology.

[ZephyrOptional]

I can critically judge any Tolkien adaptation. They all get some things right and some thing wrong. As an armature Tolkien artist, I understand my vision will never match someone else’s and would hope that they wouldn’t hate it even if might be a little off in their mind. I’m excited to see, hear, or experience anyone’s Tolkien art done with love. As Chris says, even the Gollum game and ROP had some good points despite their many shortcomings. I really believe more is better. I’ll take a bunch of silly Star Wars shows just to get the genius of Andor. If we have to endure some so/so Tolkien adaptation just to get to something brilliant, I’m ok with it. Gollum is not my favorite character but would LOVE to see Andy & PJ back in Middle Earth. Enough of the “no one wants this” comments. Speak for yourselves!

[rickythend]

I love this channel for it's fair and balanced reporting and love/respect for Professor Tolkien's amazing work. Keep up the good work, Brother Chris!

[ILoveCiniminis]

Always love your videos and your pronunciation

[EmperorCaligula_EC]

I'd rather have a complete recast. I don't like CGI-chars or making actors young with AI-CGI. Yes, Viggo Mortenson and Ian McKellen did epic jobs. But find new actors, who also maybe have a future. Remember when Dumbledore was recast, we thought it impossiblr, but the new Dumbledore worked great.

Also, keep in mind, when some actors were cast of the LotR trilogy, it was nothing like many of us book fans had imagined Aragorn or Frodo or whoever. Just don't "necromance" old actors and give competent new one's a chance. That's just my 2 cents.

As what to think, I am open minded and will have no positive or negative expectations until I see more.

[BDawg-hypl]

I HOPE PJ is back! I do not blame him for the Hpbbit movies

[maxpower]

The Hobbit films are still better and more fun to watch than most movies since.

[aresaurelian]

If they focus on the hunters and only the necessary Gollum scenes, it will be a great addition between the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Extended editions tends to make more sense, and set things right. I await extended edition of Rings of Power season 1, giving sense to the story, and I am cautiously excited for the coming seasons. The tools for creating, producing, and distributing are much greater today. It will be good.

[Jaguar-sf]

Supposedly Gollum will be struggling with his identity.

[DaBIONICLEFan]

Appreciate your perspective, thank you.

I think people are just 'down' on Gollum at the moment because of the game, which I'm doubtful that PJ, Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens had even heard of if I'm honest. I personally think it's a wise route to go. It has close relation to and will tie in with the Hobbit and LotR, as well as have recognisable characters and places for the wider, mainstream audience. This will increase its likelihood of being financially successful. I don’t think characterising it as a "cash grab" is helpful; the film needs to make money otherwise it's likely we won't get any more in the future or at least have to wait 10+ years again because studios are scared of touching the property again.

As someone else said, the Gollum scenes were the best thing in an Unexpected Journey (also incidentally the best Hobbit film overall), so I'm hopeful.

[MarleyFett]

Have good sleep Chris. Hope this is good, it cant be worse than rings of power. I hope it is at least in the vision of Tolkien. I mean it was not so clear as what happened other than Aragorn capture him and drop him off in care of Thranduil . So if this is at least we will see some characters we would be fleshed out a bit better.😁

[ShmuelSch]

If they show Sauron gaining power in Mordor they can also show Gondor's decline, Ecthelion, Denethor (maybe they can give him a little arc to explain how he became what we see in the first trilogy), and if they're really bold they can try go full Shadow of War and have the Nazgûl conquer Minas Ithil (though I hope they won't. I think Minas Ithil should be a place that had evil powers dwell in it for many years and not like 'yea, my grandpa lived here').

[iri_riri]

My body isn’t ready for this 😂 but I’m excited for more wood elves and possibly Shelob too. I actually agree with you on casting new actors for the roles and trying something new instead of the old formula. Not sure if it was for the Hobbit movies or RoP where they mentioned Guillermo Del Toro would direct. Sadly it never happened but I would have been really interested in what he could’ve brought to the table. So I’m hoping for something different.

[aureentuluva]

Peter Jackson returning as producer/director is a very good thing. Boyens and Walsh working on screenplay is terrifying

[Enerdhil]

Here is the timeline for Gollum between Bilbo finding the One Ring and Gollum being imprisoned in the Woodland Realm:

2941 Bilbo meets Gollum and finds the Ring.

2951 Gollum turns towards Mordor.

2980 About this time Gollum reaches the confines of Mordor and becomes acquainted with Shelob.🕷️

3001 Gandalf seeks for news of Gollum and calls on the help of Aragorn.

3009 Gandalf and Aragorn renew their hunt for Gollum at intervals during the next eight years, searching in the vales of Anduin, Mirkwood, and Rhovanion to the confines of Mordor.

3009-3017 At some time during these years, Gollum himself ventured into Mordor, and was captured by Sauron.

3017 Gollum is released from Mordor. He is taken by Aragorn in the Dead Marshes, and brought to Thranduil in Mirkwood.

[geir]

Hi Chris. Can you analyse rings of power teaser today? Going live?

[MarleyFett]

What i meant. My horrible English. I would be very nice to see what happen or speculate what happen at this time. Done well, could be very entertaining and great nod to Tolkein.