UPDATE: Warner Bros. has announced that the new Lord of the Rings movie is titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and it will be directed by and star Andy Serkis in his iconic titular role. The film will be executive produced by Ken Kamins, with Serkis and The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish.
Jackson, Walsh and Boyens said: “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!”
“Yesssss, Precious,” Serkis added. “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..."
Warner Bros. said Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is the first of two new Lord of the Rings feature films from Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, and arrives two decades after the nearly $6 billion film franchise was first introduced to audiences.
ORIGINAL STORY: Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav has just announced a new The Lord of the Rings movie set to come out in 2026.
Peter Jackson, famed director of the much-loved The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, as well as the Hobbit movies, returns alongside co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to produce on the untitled film. Zaslav said all three "will be involved every step of the way." An early script is in development.
During an investor call, Zaslav said this new movie "will explore storylines yet to be told", before adding that The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the DC Universe are all franchises he considers to be "largely underused." "We are hard at work fixing that," he said. No further details on the film were shared.
Amazon has continued The Lord of the Rings with its The Rings of Power TV show, Season 1 of which released in 2022 on Prime Video. Amazon announced it would renew the show for a second season before Season 1 even came out, with Season 2 set to premiere this year. In our review of the first season of The Rings of Power, IGN said: "Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power captures the epic scope and beauty of Tolkien's work."
In February, showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne extended their partnership with Amazon, signing a new three-year deal with the company and kicking off early work on Season 3.
Elsewhere in Tolkien's world sits The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which is an animated film set to tell the story behind the fortress of Helm's Deep and the mighty King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand when it premieres on December 13, 2024.
The Lord of the Rings video games are back in full swing too, despite the disastrous launch of 2023's Gollum. Franchise owner Embracer Group said it needs to be "exploiting Lord of the Rings in a very significant fashion" by turning it into “one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world”.
Games in development at the moment include a The Lord of the Rings massively multiplayer online game from Amazon Games, which was in early development as of May 2023, and a cozy life simulator called Tales of the Shire.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
