Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie trilogy got here out proper across the time film studios determined every part wanted to be an enormous franchise that exists in perpetuity. From that perspective, it’s a little bit shocking that Warner Bros. Discovery hasn’t milked Tolkien’s work greater than they have already got. That’ll change quickly, although, as the corporate simply introduced that there are two new Lord of the Rings movies within the works (you possibly can learn the total press launch right here).
The primary is tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and it’s being directed by Andy Serkis — you might keep in mind him for his landmark efficiency as Gollum in Jackson’s prior motion pictures. The truth that Serkis is on board, and dealing from a script by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (who co-wrote the prior Center-earth motion pictures together with Jackson) has me feeling a bit higher about this not being merely a crass money seize. Peter Jackson, together with Walsh and Boyens, are set to provide as nicely. Serkis beforehand served as second unit director on The Hobbit movies and in addition directed 2022’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Given the working title of the movie, you gained’t be shocked to be taught that Serkis can be starring once more because the titular Gollum. Whereas a part of me was to see how one other actor would possibly tackle the character, Serkis so outlined Gollum for the large display that it’s nearly not possible to place anybody else within the function. As for what the film will cowl, there’s no official phrase but — however once more, the title signifies it’ll happen between the occasions of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings as Gandalf and Aragorn search Center-earth for Gollum, making an attempt to be taught extra in regards to the ring that Bilbo after which Frodo possessed.
Given Hollywood’s insatiable thirst for Content material primarily based on Common Franchises, it’s a little bit shocking one thing like this didn’t occur sooner. Jackson and firm adopted up the unique trilogy of movies 9 years later with the bloated and overly CGI-reliant movie sequence primarily based on The Hobbit and corresponding occasions from Tolkien’s LOTR appendices. And, in fact, Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy sequence debuted in 2022. And earlier than The Hunt for Gollum arrives, we’ll see one other intriguing mission: an anime-style movie referred to as The Battle of the Rohirrim. That film arrives this December and covers occasions in Rohan a couple of hundred years earlier than The Lord of the Rings.
As a large Lord of the Rings fan, I’m each skeptical and excited by this announcement. The unhappy actuality of the leisure world is that tasks like this are going to occur it doesn’t matter what; there’s an excessive amount of cash wrapped up in issues like Lord of the Rings to not try to extract extra. However Serkis looks as if a wonderful option to direct this film, and hopefully they’ll discover a tight, self-contained story that works as a standalone movie. The mess that was made within the Hobbit movies has me cautious, however even in these motion pictures I discovered loads of issues to take pleasure in — and this seems like a very good alternative to chart a optimistic course ahead for extra motion pictures in Center-earth.
