The Lord of the Rings is arguably one of the most successful film trilogies ever made. It made billions at the box office. It won Academy Awards. It's almost universally praised as one of the most successful adaptations of a popular work ever made. It's not a shock that there have been attempts to reignite that success, both with additional films and now prestige TV series. Even Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was unable to repeat that success, and yet, he's apparently going to try again.
This morning Warner Bros. announced two new Lord of the Rings films are on the way, with some outlets reporting the first one is set to debut as soon as 2026. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum (a working title) will see Peter Jackson return to produce the film, alongside longtime partners Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens. Walsh and Boyens are also writing the screenplay, while Andy Serkis is on board to reprise his role as Gollum and also direct the film. Serkis was a second unit director on The Hobbit films and most recently directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
New Lords Of The Rings Movies Could Be Amazing
Needless to say, everything in the preceding paragraph falls into the "things I never thought I'd write" category. It's not a shock we're getting new Lord of the Rings movies or series. That was a guarantee. Animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim's release date is set for December and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2 is on the way. But the idea that Peter Jackson would return to the franchise, and in such a major way as to produce two more movies, is more than a little unexpected, and thrilling.
What exactly a Gollum-focused movie would be about is unclear. The title could indicate it will be focused on Sauron's forces searching for the One Ring, and attempting to hunt down Gollum, knowing he had the ring and may know where it is. It could also be set much earlier, as a sort of origin story explaining in more detail how Smeogol became Gollum. Either, if handled well, could make for a good movie.
On the one hand, a return to Middle-earth that includes Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa Boyens is wonderful news. Those three people brought us the original Lord of the Rings and an absolute labor of love that was massively successful because such work was put into it. At the same time, the trio also brought us The Hobbit movies which were...not treated quite as well.
New Lord Of The Rings Movies Could Also Be A Disaster
The Hobbit movies were rushed. Even Peter Jackson admits he had no time to prepare due to the schedule he was being held to. As a result, they are far below the standard previously set.
The big question is which trilogy will these new movies be more like. Various outlets are reporting that this movie will arrive in 2026, likely in December, and that would mean the movie will need to be done in less than 18 months, and based on the information released by WB, the script isn't done yet.
To be fair, the WB info doesn't give the 2026 date, so it may be that the quick turnaround is not the plan. As a fan, I certainly hope that's the case. if this movie is going to happen, we can only hope it will be given the attention that the Lord of the Rings was given that made them so good.
Jackson has spent the last several years working outside of feature films. He's been primarily focused on The Beatles, perhaps ironic considering The Beatles once attempted to make a Lord of the Rings movie. He crafted the excellent Disney+ documentary Get Back, and most recently worked to remaster the classic Beatles doc Let it Be, which just debuted on Disney+ this week. Now that that's done, he's apparently ready to go back to the world of hobbits.
