The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum was announced nearly a year ago with the hope of hitting theaters in 2026, but the latest update makes that seem a little unlikely. Warner Bros. Pictures CEOs Pam Abdy and Mike de Luca spoke to Deadline on Friday in a broad-ranging interview about their plans for the studio and their outlook right now. Abdy said that the script for The Hunt for Gollum is not yet complete, though she expects it to be turned in next month. This means we may not return to the film version of Middle-earth next year as we hoped, knowing the pace of filming and post-production for these kinds of projects.
Abdy and de Luca were going over many of the biggest franchises and IPs that Warner Bros. is focused on right now when The Hunt for Gollum came up, book-ending one of Abdy’s comments. “Adding to things we’re excited about, Andy Serkis doing the Gollum film,” she said. “…We just had a dynamite check-in with Philippa Boyens on Gollum, and I think we’re about to get that script in May.”
Boyens co-wrote the scripts for The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s, along with Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh. All three are returning as producers on The Hunt for Gollum, though Boyens is the only one returning as a writer. She is co-writing the new script with her daughter Phoebe Gittins and Gittens’ writing partner Arty Papageorgiou. The movie will be directed by Serkis, who will reprise his role as Gollum/Smeagol.
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Serkis warned fans earlier this year that The Hunt for Gollum probably wouldn’t come in 2026. In an interview with The Direct back in February, he said that the new goal is to release it in December of 2027. The extended wait is nerve-wracking for fans who are wondering about the casting procedure here — the story will involve the wizard Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and the ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), and the actors behind both of these roles said they would return as long as it makes sense for the story. After more than two decades, their ages could be a distraction, but so would re-casting or digitally de-aging them.
The Hunt for Gollum will detail a portion of the story that takes place in the middle of The Fellowship of the Ring, but is glossed over in the film. After Bilbo leaves the Shire and Frodo inherits the One Ring, Gandalf rides off to research the ominous artifact. He enlists Aragorn’s help to track down Gollum for more information, and Aragorn puts all of his ranging skills to use. This little episode is described at length in J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel, and was made into a fan film once before, but is now getting a feature-legnth runtime from series’ heavy-hitters.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum hasn’t reached the pre-production stage yet, but it is still moving along with a projected release date of December 2027. In the meantime, The Lord of the Rings trilogy is available to stream on Max, and Tolkien’s books are available in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
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