Andy Serkis To Direct, Star In New ‘Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum’ Set For 2026 Release – Update

UPDATED with working title, film details: The first of two new LOTR films at Warner — working title Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum — will be directed by and star Andy Serkis (Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle), with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens set to write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim). The film will be executive produced by Ken Kamins, with Serkis and The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish.

Peter Jackson will produce along with Walsh and Boyens, WBD said in a release that fleshed out comments on the project by WBD CEO David Zaslav earlier today.

Said Warner Bros. Motion Pictures heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, “For over two-decades, moviegoers have embraced the Lord of the Rings film trilogy because of the undeniable devotion Peter, Fran and Philippa have shown towards protecting the legacy of Tolkien’s works, and to ensure audiences could experience the incredible world he created in a way that honors his literary vision. We are honored they have agreed be our partners on these two new films. With Andy coming aboard to direct Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum(*WT), we continue an important commitment to excellence that is a true hallmark of how we all want to venture ahead and further contribute to the Lord of the Rings cinematic history.”

Said Jackson, Walsh and Boyens: “It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker – Gollum! As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”

And Serkis said — “Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”.   

A master of motion capture, Serkis was honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) with an award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.  

He reunited with Jackson in King Kong. Between 2011-2017 he portrayed Caesar in the Planet of the Apes trilogy. He’s currently in production as director/producer of an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 

Serkis helmed Venom: Let There Be Carnage for Marvel and Sony Pictures. He starred in The Batman as Alfred Pennyworth, as Kino Loy in Andor, as Ulysses Klaue in Black Panther, and as Supreme Leader Snoke in two Star Wars film.

Jackson, a prolific director and producer, made history with the highly decorated The Lord of the Rings trilogy, becoming the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. 

PREVIOUSLY: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said this morning that the first of two new films based the Lord Of The Rings will be releases in 2026. The team is in early stages of script development on the project, he said during a post-earnings call.

Zaslav revealed last year that Warner. Bros. Pictures, led by Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca, will be revisiting the Lord of the Rings with new films based on the beloved books by J.R.R. Tolkien that became a highly lucrative cinematic franchise helmed by Peter Jackson. He will be back producing, with longtime collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. It’s repped a major piece of business for the studio with Jackson’s previous six LOTR films grossing about $6 billion worldwide — roughly $3 billion for each trilogy.

Zaslav didn’t reveal any plot points, saying the first film will focus on “storylines yet to be told.”

Warner Bros. Pictures has had a nice run this year but Zaslav says it can do more and better in the wake of “heavy lifting” by Abdy and Deluca — and James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC. Their efforts are not yet reflected in the studio numbers, he said, as the company continues to work through “the remainder of the slate that was in place when we took over the business.”

He said storytelling is the heart of the company “as we strive to return the luster to Warner Bros. Pictures.”

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2000); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) were the first three films. They were followed by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, released, respectively, in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The LOTR update followed WBD’s mixed first quarter earnings.