Andy Serkis to star in and direct new The Lord of the Rings film based on Gollum

A new Lord of the Rings film, focussing on the iconic character Gollum, is being developed by Warner Bros with actor-filmmaker Andy Serkis.

The British star had brought alive the lanky Hobbit-like creature from JRR Tolkien's fantasy novel in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

The new film, which is tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, will be directed by Serkis. The actor will also reprise the role in the movie, reported Variety.

Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav shared during an investor conference call that the film is in its early stages of development and assured that Jackson, along with co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens will be involved in every step of the way.

In February 2023, Warner Bros announced that the then studio leaders Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy made a deal to make multiple films based on the Tolkien books with Embracer Group, the Swedish gaming company that owns most Tolkien rights after purchasing holding company Middle-earth Enterprises in 2022.

Another movie based on the film titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is scheduled to hit theatres on December 13. It is directed by Kenji Kamiyama and is set 200 years before the events of The Hobbit.

Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be executive produced by Ken Kamins, with Serkis and The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish.

The original films - The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) - grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and the follow-up trilogy based on Tolkien’s The Hobbit too was a hit.

Meanwhile, Prime Video is gearing up for the second season of its fantasy series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay.