The next trip to Middle-earth may put Gollum front and centre, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any other familiar faces to look out for. As The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum continues to take shape, Ian McKellen has given fans an idea of what’s to come.
Speaking at a Lord of the Rings panel at the For Love of Fantasy event held in London, the actor, who played the powerful wizard Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, confirmed that both Gandalf and Frodo will return in the upcoming live-action entry (via Entertainment Weekly).
“I hear there’s going to be another movie set in Middle-earth, and it’s going to start filming in May. It’s going to be directed by Gollum, and it’s all about Gollum,” said McKellen.
He added, “I’ll tell you two secrets about the casting: there’s a character in the movie called Frodo, and there’s another character called Gandalf. Apart from that, my lips are sealed!”
It’s unclear whether The X-Men star would reprise his role in The Hunt for Gollum, but Adam Serkis, the voice behind the titular tormented monster, will both direct and star. While there’s also no official word on Elijah Wood’s return as Frodo, he was present at the event alongside fellow co-stars Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Dominic Monaghan (Merry), Billy Boyd (Pippin), and John Rhys-Davies (Gimli).
Slated for release on 17 December 2027, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is expected to flesh out the missing parts of Gollum’s story after losing the Ring in his encounter with Bilbo in The Hobbit, up until the events of The Lord of the Rings, in which he crosses paths with Frodo. Original trilogy director Peter Jackson serves as producer on the project, joined by his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.
Since its debut in 2001, The Lord of the Rings has spawned a franchise that includes 2002’s The Two Towers and 2003’s The Return of the King, The Hobbit trilogy that ran from 2012 to 2014, and an animated prequel film titled The War of the Rohirrim. The Hunt for Gollum is the first of two planned live-action movies.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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