The first project in a new set of The Lord of the Rings films will focus on Andy Serkis’s famous Gollum character and will come out in theatres in 2026 through Warner Bros. Serkis is also attached as the director of the project, with the working title Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Peter Jackson, the maker of the first three Lord of the Rings films, will produce the project alongside his partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. Writers Boyens and Walsh are now working on its screenplay, alongside Arty Papageorgiou and Phoebe Gittins. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav revealed in a recent earning call that the film would "explore storylines yet to be told."

The project that will revamp the franchise is part of an agreement that Warner Bros. leaders Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca made to develop more than one film based on JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books through New Line Cinema.

Serkis will also serve as an executive producer, alongside Jonathan Cavendish of The Imaginarium and Ken Kamins.