Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, and Orlando Bloom have all been approached to reprise their respective roles. Serkis has now informed The Direct that the film’s release has been postponed by a year, now slated for December 2027. He intends to commence filming Gollum next year.
Indeed, it is no longer set for 2026. It was initially scheduled for December 2026, but it will now be December 2027. We are currently at the very start of the writing process. We will begin preparations later this year, which typically takes a substantial amount of time — around six or seven months — before we start shooting next year. Thus, this pushes us back to the December 2027 release date.
It appears that The Hunt for Gollum is set during the era of The Fellowship of the Ring, just prior to Frodo Baggins’s departure from the Shire for Rivendell. The film opens with Gandalf dispatching Aragorn on a quest to locate Gollum.
If you’re curious about how the original cast might return, given that they have all aged by two decades, Philippa Boyens, who is penning the script, recently revealed that Serkis plans to utilise “AI technology” and “digital make-up” to achieve this aim.
Boyens also mentioned that only Mortensen has expressed some reluctance to return, and should he decline to star in Gollum,the character would need to be “handed off” to another actor. This would undoubtedly be another contentious decision, one that fans are likely to find rather displeasing. The entire project seems somewhat misguided, but with Peter Jackson on board as producer, one can only assume that anything is possible.
It is worth noting that Serkis, Boyens, and Jackson are also collaborating on another LOTR film, distinct from Gollum, though no details regarding that particular project have been disclosed. Rumours suggest it may take place after the events of 2003’s Return of the King.
