The Hunt for Gollum

[CaptainWacky]

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-2026-release-warner-bros-1235997102/

Peter Jackson to produce and "by involved every step of the way", Andy Serkis to direct. I like Serkis but the last movie he directed was Venom 2 and it was not good (it wasn't even the best Venom!)

The project is currently in the early stages of script development from writers Walsh and Boyens, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, and will “explore storylines yet to be told,” Zaslav said.

So it's only in early stages of development but they've already decided it's definitely coming out in 2026. Hmm, rushing production of a Middle Earth movie series produced by Peter Jackson, that could never possibly go wrong!

(Maybe it'll be good who knows.)

 

[Mentalist]

As much as I love Serkis and Jackson, I didn't feel any excitement at this announcement. It just feels extremely unnecessary. It notes they are also doing an animated film about the Rohirrim and it feels like this Gollum idea would be more suited to that than a big blockbuster film (which I assume is the plan)

Also, Jackson excelled in his brilliant ADAPTATION of The Lord of the Rings. This won't have Tolkien's work to guide them, and that is an entirely different proposition, as we saw with The Hobbit being stretched into a trilogy of God-awful filler.

It might be good, though! There is no chance it could be worse than Rings of Power, so it has that going for it, at least.

 

[Mentalist]

 

[StarMan™]

Really don't know what to make of this. I think the overall sentiment is one of ... "huh?" Had this been announced sans Jackson and co, I would dismiss it as a very unwelcome, creatively bankrupt money grab.

But Jackson and co are involved, in something which - at least superficially - sounds very underwhelming and unnecessary.

Odd.

 

[CaptainWacky]

Also, if you're reading, Jackson (he probably is!)...

PLEASE do recasts instead of de-aging. It's been 24 years since the first movie started filming. This could have Aragorn, Gandalf, Arwen, Legolas and Elrond making appearances...to have any of the original actors appearing as their characters you'd have to wipe their faces smooth. It's fine for short scenes but I don't want an uncanny valley Viggo Mortensen running around for half the movie. Remember how weird Legolas looked in The Hobbit? And that was ten years ago or something, when Orlando Bloom presumably more resembled Legolas than he does now. Cast new, age-appropriate, actors, YOU GIT.

(I think they could probably get away with Serkis playing Gollum again though.)

 

[whisky]

Now there'll be seven lord of the rings films I'll never see.

 

[Lanzman]

All the stuff unexplored in The Silmarillion and this is what they want to go with? Oy . . .

 

[CaptainWacky]

They don't have the rights to most of The Silmarillion.