The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 just dropped on Prime Video on Wednesday, Nov. 11, but the big Lord of the Rings news of the day had nothing to do with the new season of the fantasy series.
Sauron's eye was focused on Los Angeles for the Yellowjackets season 4 premiere. On the red carpet, Eilijah Wood, who also stars in Yellowjackets, told Deadline what it was like to play Frodo Baggins again in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
"It was beautiful and surreal, and it felt like no time had passed," Wood said. "And it felt like stepping back into time, you know, looking down and having this sort of muscle memory of like, I've seen these feet this way. I know this wardrobe, and that feeling is so wild and so transportive that it's like suddenly 27 years are gone and you're back in it again."
It's wild that it's actually been that long. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings filmed all three movies within about a year and half from 1999 to 2000, but then the cast and crew got back together over the next few years for some reshoots and things like that. It's been well over two decades since Wood was really in it as Frodo Baggins again.
Then, something happened that Wood did not intend.
"I think one of the things that I hadn't anticipated, because I don't know that we're that self-aware, because we were the ones who are a part of the making of the thing, but this many years on, the crew is largely younger people, and they all grew up on these films," Wood revealed to Deadline.
Wood also explained what it was like to watch the crew watch Gandalf walk on to set.
"Seeing Gandalf walk on to set was like an awe-inspiring moment for people who had watched grown up watching those movies."
Elijah Wood on returning as Frodo for ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum’ pic.twitter.com/srVYx98Ud4
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) November 12, 2026
Watching Wood talk about returning as Frodo is so awesome. I don't think that the world has fully appreciated the fact that we're actually going to see these characters return in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. The film from Andy Serkis premieres on Dec. 17, 2027, and it's going to be absolutely epic.
I know there are a lot of fans who think this is just another shameless money grab with this story, but I don't really think of it like that. It's much more interesting to me to do something like this than to remake the original series as a TV show when it's only been two decades since the movies and those movies never really left mainstream pop culture. Yes, I'm dragging the Harry Potter TV series.
For those who don't know much about it, The Hunt for Gollum is set basically before and during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, and it largely focuses on what Gollum was doing during that time to try to get the One Ring back from Bilbo Baggins and evade capture.
Wood is, of course, back as Frodo, but he'll also be joined by Serkis as Gollum and Ian McKellen as Gandalf from the original movies. There's some hope that other members of the original cast will pop up in The Hunt for Gollum, as well, but they haven't been confirmed.
Instead, we know Jamie Dornan will be playing Strider/Aragorn, along with Kate Winslet as Marigol, Anya Taylor-Joy as Seren, Lee Pace as Thandruil, and Leo Woodall as Halvard.
We're still waiting for our first big look at The Hunt for Gollum, but there's reason to believe it could be happening in the near-ish future. According to a recent interview, The Hunt for Gollum has officially wrapped production. Hopefully, that means we'll start seeing some big trailers and teasers soon!
Stay tuned for more news about The Hunt for Gollum! Don't forget to watch The Rings of Power season 3. This is without a doubt the best season yet!
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