Will he confront a Balrog, seek the help of Ents, or simply wander around?Thank goodness for that! One can only imagine the chaos at Peter Jackson's WingNut Films when the ever-spirited Sir Ian McKellen announced last month that Jackson was returning to Middle-earth with not one, but two movies titled "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum." This speculation arose partly due to the backlash Jackson faced a decade ago for stretching "The Hobbit" — a book that can likely be read faster than Bilbo could hide his silverware from Lobelia Sackville-Baggins — into a full trilogy filled with elf-dwarf romances and the antics of Alfrid. More importantly, it seems McKellen's statement wasn’t entirely accurate. In an interview with "This Morning," Sir Ian McKellen Hints at Gandalf’s Future in Lord of the Rings ...
He suggested that "The Hunt for Gollum" would be presented in two parts, leading to humorous concerns that director Andy Serkis (with Jackson producing) might deliver an extensive montage of Aragorn traversing various landscapes in a desperate search for his whiny target, all just to stretch the runtime. However, screenwriter Philippa Boyens clarified that while there will indeed be two live-action movies featuring Gandalf, McKellen seems to have misunderstood.
This raises the question of what the second movie will actually cover. The possibilities are endless, especially now that Amazon has invested millions into series that explore Middle-earth history right up until Sauron forges the One Ring. Let’s not forget that Gandalf in "The Rings of Power" — and we’re still not entirely sure he is Gandalf — has already spent a considerable amount of time wandering Rhovanion and Rhûn with various hobbit-like companions, looking rather perplexed, and we aren’t even into the third season yet. Honestly, a new Lord of the Rings movie could focus on the obscure book "Gandalf’s Guide to Middle-earth’s Great Eagles" and still have a better shot at success.
Who really needs Gollum? If audiences are truly ready for another three-hour epic drawn from the less-explored aspects of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, why not present “The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf vs. the Balrog,” featuring an extended, nearly real-time battle as the weary wizard returns to Moria for a showdown with Tolkien’s fiery demon? This could be an epic clash that would leave Jackson blushing – 180 minutes of staff-whirling, fiery whip-cracking, and plummeting deep into the heart of Moria. Ultimately, the film would be less about the confrontation, which Tolkien implies lasted days, and more about Gandalf’s stark realization that he really should have packed more lembas bread.
If that sounds too far-fetched, consider "The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf and the Search for the Entwives," where our determined Istari finally relents after centuries of Treebeard’s lamentations and embarks on a quest to find the long-lost female Ents mourned by the poor guardian of Fangorn forest in "The Two Towers." After enduring centuries of searching through enchanted woods filled with cryptic messages like “it’s not us, it’s you” and desperately trying to unravel magical plant disguises, the wizard finally finds the missing lady trees, only to face a fierce group of feminist dryads defending them. The ensuing battle could make Helm’s Deep look like a minor squabble over second breakfast.
At this point, it seems that Jackson and his team could get away with a loosely Tolkien-inspired storyline about Gandalf’s visit to a trendy wellness retreat in Rivendell without anyone raising much of an objection. While "The Lord of the Rings" was once deemed unfilmable, audiences today seem willing to part with their cash as long as there’s a vague mention of a ring and someone looking worried in a forest. Whether this trend is positive depends on your perspective of Middle-earth — as either a magnificent tapestry of Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and Celtic epic fantasy or merely a tale of wanderers in the woods alongside a loquacious wizard wielding a big stick and wearing a pointed hat.
“I can definitively tell you it isn’t two films,” screenwriter Philippa Boyens shared in the latest issue of Empire. “That was a genuine misunderstanding that arose because we are conceptually working on two different live-action films. The first is The Hunt for Gollum, while the second one is still to be confirmed.”
