No, you have not dreamed it. A Gollum-centric Lord of the Rings spinoff film is coming in 2026, and actor-director Andy Serkis is already teasing a few of what’s on the horizon for the venture.
By way of Popverse, we have discovered about Serkis’ cheeky little teases of what we are able to count on from the stunning new film, together with a potential title change (thank the Lord) and a good quantity of returning characters.
The filmmaker is not spilling the beans on any of the large names that might be returning — each Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) have already expressed curiosity in doing so — but he admits they’ve already been making an attempt to determine who’s coming again as a part of the brand new story. “It’s so early; it could be unfair to decide to something at this level,” Serkis stated, “However I’ll say that will probably be a deep dive the place we examine Gollum’s character. There could also be characters that we acknowledge that could be coming again. I’m not going to say who.”
Given the story’s potential placement within the timeline (between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings’ fundamental occasions), it would not be stunning to see characters akin to Gandalf or Aragorn coming again, however the elves particularly ought to have an element to play within the seek for the little evildoer and once-Ring-bearer. Likewise, the forces of Mordor spent a few years on the lookout for Gollum, ultimately extracting the data they wanted from him and sending the Ring-wraiths to the Shire. The remaining is well-known Center-earth historical past. Lengthy story quick: there will be cameos and even sizable roles for LOTR veterans, and de-aging tech will probably be used. That a lot we are able to safely predict.
As for the wordy title, which hasn’t been well-received by most individuals, Serkis says we should always settle down, because the movie “might not find yourself being known as that”. “It’s going to very a lot be the world of Center Earth in line with Gollum’s expertise of it,” he stated, presumably suggesting a a lot darker tone that will assist separate this spinoff from the ‘fundamental’ motion pictures and make it extra engaging, as most moviegoers are nonetheless questioning whether or not we actually wanted this.
With Embracer now accountable for Center-earth’s core supply supplies throughout video video games and movie, we’re certainly getting many extra LOTR-adjacent tales within the coming years, but the 2 nearest have been set in movement manner earlier than its acquisition of the rights to Tolkien’s central works. From New Line Cinema, which stays within the enterprise of Center-earth on this new age for the franchise, the long-in-the-works Battle of the Rohirrim anime film is coming this Christmas, and Amazon’s The Rings of Energy season 2 will lastly hit Prime Video on August 29.
