Andy Serkis (Gollum) will narrate the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy!

In-between directing Venom: Let There Be Carnage and reprising his role as Matthew the Raven in season 2 of Audible’s The Sandman, Andy Serkis is a pretty busy guy. But he always has time for The Lord of the Rings. Even with all his success, Serkis is still best known for his portrayal of Gollum in Peter Jackson’s iconic movie trilogy, and now he’s on a quest to voice every character in Middle-earth. This September, publisher HarperCollins will release audiobooks of the iconic J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy narrated entirely by Serkis himself!

Audiobooks set in Middle-earth are nothing new to Serkis. Last year, when most of the world was stuck inside thanks to the pandemic, he decided to live-stream himself narrating the entirety of The Hobbit for charity. His stream, titled “Hobbitathon,” proved a huge success, generating over $400,000! It’s no wonder HarperCollins sought him out to take us on Frodo’s epic journey.

That said, The Lord of the Rings is a much bigger challenge to narrate than The Hobbit. Spanning three books — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King — it’s not exactly the type you can read in one sitting. In a statement via The Bookseller, Serkis shared his joy (and fear) of returning to the beloved series:

"I would consider myself someone who likes a challenge… Walking back into Middle-earth over 20 years after my first life-changing adventure there, and experiencing it all over again (this time for many weeks alone in a sound booth) has brought in equal measures of pure joy, sheer madness, immense pleasure and a level of psychological and physical fatigue I have never quite experienced the like of before."

In fact, Serkis compares his experience to those of the Fellowship themselves. “I actually feel like I have lived through Tolkien’s saga, and felt his profound understanding of and connection to nature, love, war, truth, hatred and altruism. Each day I genuinely went through ups and downs, often coinciding with the progress of the ring-bearer and his companions.”

A mighty challenge it may be, but I can’t think of anyone better suited to narrate the entire thing than Serkis…especially Gollum’s lines. Perhaps this is just the beginning, and he will go on to provide narration for The Silmarillion and every other work set in Middle-earth.

Watch a clip of Andy Serkis recording The Lord of the Rings! 

HarperCollins has released a small preview of the audiobook on YouTube, featuring Serkis doing his iconic Gollum voice. It sounds even better than you remember:

Serkis’ The Lord of the Rings audiobook, like the original, is split into three books, so each will have to be purchased separately. Each part releases on Audible on September 16. You can pre-order them here.

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