Summary

​​​​​​

• Warner Bros. has announced a live-action The Lord of the Rings film that Andy Serkis will direct.
• The working title of this film is The Hunt for Gollum, referring to Gandalf and Aragorn's search for Gollum between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
• The description of this search from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel offers clues to the upcoming film's potential plot and cast of characters.

Warner Bros. has recently announced The Hunt for Gollum, a live-action The Lord of the Rings film that will seemingly take place in the same continuity as Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Many creatives from Jackson's earlier Middle-earth films are set to return. Andy Serkis will both direct the new film and reprise his role as the titular former hobbit, Gollum. Screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who wrote The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films alongside Jackson, will pen the new script. Even Jackson himself will be involved, serving as the upcoming film's producer.

The title The Hunt for Gollum, which Serkis' project shares with a popular The Lord of the Rings fan film from 2009, refers to Gandalf and Aragorn's search for Gollum between the events of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel, Gandalf and Aragorn discussed this search at the Council of Elrond from The Fellowship of the Ring. Though Jackson's trilogies took some creative liberties with Tolkien's writing, they mostly followed the plot of the novels. If The Hunt for Gollum is equally faithful, the descriptions of Gandalf and Aragorn's adventure from Tolkien's novel can provide clues about the plot -- and potential returning characters -- of the upcoming film.

The Hunt for Gollum Took Place Shortly Before The Lord of the Rings

The search for Gollum began in the year T.A. 3001, placing it 17 years before Frodo set out on his journey in The Lord of the Rings. Specifically, it began immediately after Bilbo's 111th birthday party, which Jackson showed in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. After Bilbo's infamous disappearing act, Gandalf became suspicious that the ring Bilbo found in The Hobbit was actually the One Ring, so he began researching the Rings of Power. As part of his research, Gandalf wanted to speak with Gollum, whom Bilbo claimed had given him the ring as a reward for winning their game of riddles. However, Gollum was an extremely elusive creature, so Gandalf had trouble locating him.

He enlisted the help of Aragorn, who had excellent tracking skills since he was a Ranger of the North. In the chapter "The Council of Elrond" from The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn explained that he was willing to help because "it seemed fit that Isildur’s heir should labor to repair Isildur’s fault." For the next 18 years, they intermittently searched the lands east of the Misty Mountains. According to Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, they looked "in the vales of Anduin, Mirkwood, and Rhovanion to the confines of Mordor." Yet this was fruitless, as Gollum was in the one part of Middle-earth that Gandalf and Aragorn could not enter.

Both the Dark Lord and the Elves Imprisoned Gollum

• Serkis was a second-unit director for all three of Jackson's The Hobbit films.
• In an interview from 1998, Jackson expressed interest in filming scenes of Gandalf and Aragorn searching for Gollum.
• Gandalf and the Elves of the Woodland Realm briefly searched for Gollum right after The Hobbit, but Gandalf did not think that it was worth pursuing further at the time.

Around T.A. 2980, Gollum made the mistake of coming close to Mordor. The forces of the Dark Lord Sauron eventually discovered Gollum and imprisoned him. Sauron tortured Gollum to gain information about the One Ring. Gollum was surprisingly resilient; all the Dark Lord learned from him was that a Baggins from the Shire had stolen the One Ring. This did not help Sauron much, as he did not know where the Shire was or how he could find the Baggins. In T.A. 3017, Sauron set Gollum free. This seemed uncharacteristically merciful for the Dark Lord, but he had a reason to let his prisoner live; he hoped that Gollum would unwittingly lead him to the location of the One Ring.

Gollum made it no further than the Dead Marshes before Aragorn captured him. Aragorn brought him to Thranduil's kingdom, the Woodland Realm, where Gandalf could safely question him. Tolkien did not specify which individual Elves dealt with Gollum, but Serkis' film could easily incorporate Legolas or Tauriel, the latter of whom was an invention of Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy. Gollum was initially as resistant to Gandalf's interrogation as he was to Sauron's. He claimed that his Precious was a birthday present from his grandmother, which Gandalf did not believe. After Gandalf threatened to burn him, Gollum finally told the truth about his murder of Déagol.

Gollum Confirmed Gandalf's Greatest Fear

• Sauron's evil influence subconsciously drew Gollum to Mordor.
• Because of Gollum's time in Mordor, he was one of the few characters who personally saw Sauron's physical form in the Third Age.
• Gollum lied to Sauron that the Shire was near the Gladden Fields, where Isildur died.

Between Sauron's interest in the ring, Gollum's willingness to murder Déagol for it, and Bilbo's inclination to lie about stealing it, Gandalf became certain that it was none other than the One Ring. As Gandalf recounted to Frodo in the chapter "The Shadow of the Past" from The Fellowship of the Ring, Gollum swore that he would reclaim the One Ring and get revenge on Bilbo. Gollum claimed that he "had good friends now, good friends and very strong. They would help him. Baggins would pay for it." These "friends" to whom he referred were likely Sauron's minions. Of course, he and the servants of the Dark Lord were actually enemies, but they shared the goal of locating the One Ring; Sauron could not find the One Ring if Gollum was trapped in the Woodland Realm.

As Gollum hinted, Orcs attacked the Woodland Realm in T.A. 3018, and in the chaos, he escaped. The reason that Legolas went to Rivendell in The Lord of the Rings was to report that Gollum was on the loose. Gollum tried to go to the Shire, but he was unable to pass through the Mines of Moria since he did not know how to open the Doors of Durin. Thus, he waited in the Misty Mountains, where he would cross paths with the Fellowship just a few months later in The Lord of the Rings. Warner Bros. has not indicated that Viggo Mortensen, Sir Ian McKellen, or any other actors besides Serkis will reprise their roles in The Hunt for Gollum, but if the film stays true to Tolkien's novel, fans can expect to see some familiar faces.