Fans of The Lord of the Rings had plenty of reason to celebrate this past weekend as legendary actor Ian McKellen, known for his iconic portrayal of Gandalf the Grey, dropped a bombshell about the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum film.
During the For the Love of Fantasy event in London, McKellen, with a mischievously, teased the appearance of two very familiar faces: Frodo and Gandalf themselves.
"I hear there's going to be another movie based in Middle-earth, and it's going to start filming in May. It's going to be directed by Gollum, and it's all about Gollum," McKellen quipped, referring to Andy Serkis, who will both direct and reprise his role as the titular, ring-obsessed creature. The crowd, already buzzing with excitement, gasped in unison when McKellen continued, "I'll tell you two secrets about the casting: There's a character in the movie called Frodo, and there's a character in the movie called Gandalf."
He then sealed the deal with a dramatic, "Apart from that, my lips are sealed," leaving the audience begging for me but filled with excitement.
While McKellen didn't explicitly confirm that he and Elijah Wood (the original Frodo Baggins) would be reprising their roles, Wood was notably present at the event, sharing a cheeky smile with his former co-star.
This sparked immediate fan theories ranging from elaborate flashback sequences to a daring use of de-ageing technology (or perhaps, a very convincing hobbit-sized stand-in for Wood, given the character's pre-LOTR timeline).
The new film, slated for a December 2027 release, is set to delve into Gollum's backstory, filling in the mysterious gap between his encounter with Bilbo in The Hobbit and his eventual reappearance in The Lord of the Rings. This period, which saw Gandalf and others on a frantic search for Gollum and the missing Ring, is ripe for cinematic exploration.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has already put The Hunt for Gollum at the top of the studio's priority list, alongside other highly anticipated projects like Batman and Harry Potter, further proving the studio's commitment to established franchises.
With Peter Jackson producing, alongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens (the Oscar-winning team behind the original trilogy), it seems the Fellowship is slowly but surely reassembling. We’ll have to wait until 2027 to find out more.
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