Middle Earth comes to Las Vegas as part of Warner Bros. ”Tuesday Cinema Con Presentation. The studio has revealed several cast members for Andy Serkis’ new film The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. It is scheduled to be released in theaters on December 17, 2027.
In addition to directing the film, Serkis will star as Gollum/Smeagol, with Ian McKellen returning as Gandalf, Elijah Wood returning as Frodo Baggins, and Lee Pace reprising his role as Thranduil. Newcomers to the Lord of the Rings series include Kate Winslet as Marigol and Leo Woodall as Halberd. Jamie Dornan also plays Strider, who is later revealed to be Aragorn in the original novel.
The film will chronicle the quest of the depraved hobbit of the title in the years leading up to the first film in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. Original trilogy screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyen are joined by Phoebe Gittins and Artie Papagiorgio to adapt the original work by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Tolkien originally wrote The Lord of the Rings trilogy in the 1950s following the success of 1937’s The Hobbit. Jackson adapted “The Lord of the Rings” into three films in 2001, 2002 and 2003, then expanded “The Hobbit” into its own film trilogy in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The original Lord of the Rings movies were a box office and technical breakthrough, grossing nearly $3 billion worldwide and winning 17 Academy Awards. The third film, The Return of the King, won Best Picture in 2004 and went on to win a record 11 Oscars. Serkis’ performance as Gollum in the second and third films debuted Weta Workshop’s innovative digital effects and was a breakthrough in motion capture technology. Serkis reprized the role of Gollum in the first “Hobbit” film in 2012.
New Line Cinema previously released the animated feature The Lord of the Rings: Battle of the Rohirrim in theaters, returning to Middle-earth in 2024. Amazon-MGM is also adapting Tolkien’s copyright under its own rights agreement with the author’s estate and is currently producing the third season of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power for Amazon Prime.
