UPDATE: It has now been revealed the new Lord of the Rings movie has a working title of Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and will be directed by Andy Serkis
Warner Bros. has officially announced it is developing new Lord of the Rings movies, with Peter Jackson overseeing them. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are set to write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim).
Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum in Familiar Hands
The news was announced during Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, where CEO David Zaslav revealed the plans going forward, having previously noted the company was mulling over more films in the franchise.
“Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and revered franchises in history and presents a significant opportunity for our theatrical business,” said Zaslav in the call.
Jackson will be joined by longtime writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who ”will all be involved every step of the way.” with a view to a 2026 release.
This will be no reboot or reimagining, but rather, it will ”explore storylines yet to be told” in Middle Earth. Knowing the drama that surrounded Amazon’s Rings of Power television series, having Middle Earth stalwarts Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens involved as producers is a canny move that will hopefully reassure fans about the potential quality of the new Lord of the Rings movies.
Andy Serkis, of course, previously played Gollum in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies and worked with Jackson on his adaptation of King Kong. Serkis has previously directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.
“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.” Serkis said in a statement. ”With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”.
Jackson, Serkis, Walsh, and Boyens all worked together on both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. The former of which is set for another stint in theaters this summer in remastered and extended forms.
“It is an honor 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!” said Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens in a statement. ”As lifelong 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!”
