No, you have not dreamed it. A Gollum-centric Lord of the Rings spinoff film is coming in 2026, and actor-director Andy Serkis is already teasing a few of what’s on the horizon for the venture.
By way of Popverse, we have discovered about Serkis’ cheeky little teases of what we will anticipate from the shocking new film, together with a attainable title change (thank the Lord) and a good quantity of returning characters.
The filmmaker is not spilling the beans on any of the large names that could possibly be returning — each Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) have already expressed curiosity in doing so — but he admits they’ve already been making an attempt to determine who’s coming again as a part of the brand new story. “It’s so early; it will be unfair to decide to something at this level,” Serkis stated, “However I’ll say that it is going to be a deep dive the place we examine Gollum’s character. There could also be characters that we acknowledge that could be coming again. I’m not going to say who.”
Given the story’s potential placement within the timeline (between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings’ principal occasions), it would not be shocking to see characters resembling Gandalf or Aragorn coming again, however the elves particularly ought to have an element to play within the seek for the little evildoer and once-Ring-bearer. Likewise, the forces of Mordor spent a few years searching for Gollum, finally extracting the data they wanted from him and sending the Ring-wraiths to the Shire. The remainder is well-known Center-earth historical past. Lengthy story brief: there will be cameos and even sizable roles for LOTR veterans, and de-aging tech will probably be used. That a lot we will safely predict.
As for the wordy title, which hasn’t been well-received by most individuals, Serkis says we should always settle down, because the movie “might not find yourself being referred to as that”. “It’s going to very a lot be the world of Center Earth in keeping with Gollum’s expertise of it,” he stated, probably suggesting a a lot darker tone that will assist separate this spinoff from the ‘principal’ motion pictures and make it extra engaging, as most moviegoers are nonetheless questioning whether or not we actually wanted this.
With Embracer now accountable for Center-earth’s core supply supplies throughout video video games and movie, we’re certainly getting many extra LOTR-adjacent tales within the coming years, but the 2 nearest had been set in movement approach earlier than its acquisition of the rights to Tolkien’s central works. From New Line Cinema, which stays within the enterprise of Center-earth on this new age for the franchise, the long-in-the-works Warfare of the Rohirrim anime film is coming this Christmas, and Amazon’s The Rings of Energy season 2 will lastly hit Prime Video on August 29.