Earlier this year, Embracer Group Sweden, in collaboration with Warner Brother Studios, announced the first live-action Lord of the Rings movie since the conclusion of The Hobbit trilogy in 2014. WB was working hard to bring back original Lord of the Rings writers as the architects on a slew of upcoming movies, including Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa Boyens. The new films are expected to be set firmly in The Third Age, while Amazon Prime’s show The Rings of Power will take place in The Second Age.
While many fans were theorizing a slew of optional storylines in the Third Age, like this year’s animated film The War of the Rohirrim, not many expected the first film to be the story of The Hunt for Gollum. Andy Serkis was also announced to direct his first Lord of the Rings film and star after serving as Second Unit director on The Hobbit films under Peter Jackson. Many fans wondered about this story and who could possibly appear from the larger legendarium. The story is pretty simple, and Gandalf tasks Strider/Aragorn with finding the creature Gollum in the early days of The Fellowship of the Ring before meeting Frodo in Bree.
Phillipa Boyens revealed that the brain trust behind Tolkien’s movies has been in contact with actor Viggo Mortenson to see if he would reprise the role of Strider for the film. Ian McKellen also revealed that he had spoken to the studio to appear as Gandalf the Grey one last time. This suggests that this film may be a larger and fun prequel. Possibly bringing back many characters (and actors) seen in The Fellowship of the Ring and further establishing the growing threat of Sauron with the return of The One Ring.
However, while many fans are looking for a grand epic tale from the world of Middle-Earth once again on the big screen, the studio could poetically go on a smaller scale with its first live-action film in over a decade. The story actually has Aragorn traveling East towards Mordor and finding Gollum himself. He must travel away from his fellow brothers of the Dúnedain Rangers of the North. Finally, once Strider finally captures Gollum, he must go on foot all the way back to Mirkwood to integrate the creature alongside Gandalf and King Thandurial.
This type of story sounds like another 2009 Viggo Mortenson movie called The Road. The film was based on the post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The story follows an unnamed Man as he tries to survive along with his Son in a post-apocalyptic world full of thieves and murders. The film was made on an extremely small $25 million dollar budget. While it only made $27.5 million at the worldwide box office, the film has become a cult classic. The Hunt for Gollum can take this premise and become a small-scaled Lord of the Rings feature.
With the idea of a small-budget story, the film could show Middle-Earth now as a post-apocalyptic world long after the time of Isildur, with small remnants of the ancient Kingdom of Arnor. This film could also finally show how the Dúnedain lived near the borders of the Shire during The Third Age, something that has yet to be explored in any live-action adaptation. The film could also only hint at the larger universe with cameos from prominent characters like Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and King Thandrial (Lee Pace).
The idea is that the film is 75% just Gollum and Strider getting through Middle-Earth on their own. Sauron is also searching for Gollum at this point. They would need to escape from Orcs and Wild Men on their journey, all while Gollum himself is trying to escape. It could also convince Viggo to return, as the pressure of playing a younger character would diminish completely. The film would have action but not to the extent of the original trilogy. With de-aging technology and stunt men, we could see the return of Viggo Mortenson as the mysterious Ranger of the North. And, if a small-budgeted Middle-Earth film could become profitable, expect WB to greenlight bigger epics set within the universe.
The Hunt for Gollum has no set release date
