Andy Serkis Reveals 'The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum' Film Has Been Delayed A Year
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum director Andy Serkis revealed the film has been delayed a year from 2026 to 2027.
Speaking with The Direct during an appearance at Fan Expo Vancouver 2025, Serkis shared, “Yeah, it is not 2026. It was originally going to be December 2026. It is going to be December 2027.”
Serkis also shared details on where the film is at in its production cycle, “We are right at the beginning of the writing process. We will be prepping later this year. Prep takes a good chunk of time, six or seven months, and then we will be shooting next year. So, it backs into that December 2027 release date.”
The film was originally announced back in May 2024 with Warner Bros. Film heads Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy stating, “For over two-decades, moviegoers have embraced the Lord of the Rings film trilogy because of the undeniable devotion Peter, Fran and Philippa have shown towards protecting the legacy of Tolkien’s works, and to ensure audiences could experience the incredible world he created in a way that honors his literary vision.”
The duo added, “We are honored they have agreed be our partners on these two new films. With Andy coming aboard to direct ‘Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,’ we continue an important commitment to excellence that is a true hallmark of how we all want to venture ahead and further contribute to the Lord of the Rings cinematic history.”
Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, who are producing the film also stated, “It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker — Gollum! As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”
Serkis also added, “Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our filmmaking family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”
As for what the film would be about, Boyens shared, “Gollum’s story is one of the most compelling to us in terms of a character that we couldn’t go as deeply into as we wanted to before, which sounds strange when you say that, given how familiar he is to everybody.”
“Gollum’s life span takes place in such an interesting period of Middle-earth. When the question was first asked, this was the first story we thought of,” she elaborated. “Because I can tell you, and people might not believe this, but we had zero expectations of going back to this. It wasn’t something we were looking to do, particularly. So when the question was asked, it was, what would draw you back? And it was about working with the people we we’re working with. It was also about the chance to work with Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy at the studio. Alan Horn is now back at the studio. It just felt right.”
She also noted that Serkis would be providing his own take on the film, “Andy is going to have a really interesting take. It’s going to be his own take, because what we don’t want this film to be is just the fourth film in the trilogy.”
She then addressed potential naysayers, “This film has to work in its own way. And that’s our job. That’s what we are going to have to be able to do. I know there’s plenty of people out there who will be like, oh no, why are they doing this? Why are they going back in? Well, that’s our job, to prove why we think that it’s a good idea.”
As for what Serkis’ take is, he told Deadline, “Gollum has always stuck with me throughout all of these years. I’ve read audio books of the trilogy and the Silmarillion and The Hobbit, so Tolkien’s world has never left me in all of that time since we did the first films. And the character particularly has remained such an enormous part of my life. So it’s absolutely thrilling to be able to go back and do a deep dive into his world again, and specifically into Gollum’s psychology.”
“I know we’re all interested in investigating on a deeper level who that character is, and on top of that, to be able to direct and hopefully create a film which has its place within the canon, but also something that’s fresh and new and a different approach,” he added.
What do you make of the film being delayed an entire year?
There's a whole librum of unexplored Tolkien Works. Why are we stuck on Gollum?
I would like to see a well-researched and honestly done Beren and Tinuviel, Feanor and the Silmarils, or the Story of Earindil or Gil-Galad.
there is of course a big market for well done lotr, but who really wants to deep dive more into gollum? the trilogy did a very thorough examination of the character - what more is there to him? It's serkis' baby and cash machine, but who else really is saying lets get to know gollum better? young Aragorn would be way more interesting and entertaining.