2024 brought great news for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. Warner Bros. announced a new film, The Hunt for Gollum, set to be directed by Andy Serkis, who famously played Gollum. Peter Jackson, the director of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, will serve as a producer and will be heavily involved.
Serkis will also, of course, reprise his iconic role as the titular character in the film. Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, who also worked on Jackson’s movies, will co-write alongside Phoebe Gittens and Arty Papageorgiou, who wrote The War of the Rohirrim.
In December last year, Boyens told The Playlist that Serkis and Jackson have spoken to Viggo Mortensen about returning as Aragorn, who would likely play a major role in the movie if Tolkien’s story is anything to go by. And more recently, Ian McKellen spilled the “secret” that Frodo and Gandalf will appear in the movie. McKellen played the wise wizard in the two trilogies, while Elijah Wood played Frodo Baggins—though it hasn't been confirmed if either actor will reprise their role.
How Frodo and Gandalf could fit into The Hunt for Gollum
The new film’s title confused many fans, especially those who haven’t read the book. The "Hunt for Gollum" is barely mentioned in Peter Jackson's movies. When Gandalf returned to the Shire after his research on Isildur, he informed Frodo that he had looked for Gollum, but Sauron found him first and leaked the whereabouts of the ring to the Dark Lord in two words, "Shire" and "Baggins." If you only see the movies, it doesn’t seem like Frodo or Gandalf should have much to do in The Hunt for Gollum.
Tolkien’s book explains the matter more extensively, with more than half of the second chapter dedicated to it. Keeping that in mind, let’s dive into how the new movie can bring back the two beloved characters.
Frodo’s meetings with Gandalf
As per the book, Gandalf was deeply involved in the entire process. In fact, he was the one who initiated the hunt on both occasions. So, there's not much to guess about how Gandalf would fit into the new film. He can be expected to be on the hunt, alongside Aragorn and the rest of the Dunedain. Frodo, not so much; however, readers find out about what Gandalf had been up to during his occasional meetings with Frodo. In Serkis’s movie, that could very much be the case.
The tale of the hunt could be bracketed by Bilbo’s birthday party and Gandalf’s window-side chat with Frodo, where he told the hobbit about Sauron, Gollum, the Ring, et al. If we are lucky, we may even get an eavesdropping Sam Gamgee. There has been no confirmation about Sean Astin’s return, but a fan could hope!
Frodo writing his book
In The Hobbit’s opening, Elijah Wood’s Frodo appeared alongside Ian Holm’s Bilbo, and they discussed writing the story of the latter’s adventures with the dwarves. That book goes on to become The Hobbit within the Middle-earth universe. We could see a similar thing done with Frodo in The Hunt for Gollum, where the main movie is a flashback from Frodo writing his part of the story for The Lord of the Rings.
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Frodo’s time with Merry and Pippin
While it is unlikely that Frodo will get a lot of screentime in the film, we may still see his life in the Shire with his friends. Frodo didn't do much in the years Gandalf, Aragorn, and the Rangers chased after Gollum. Despite having the Ring, his life was relatively unperturbed.
Frodo went around the Shire with Meriadoc Brandybuck, Peregrin Took, Folco Boffin, and Fredegar Bolger. During this time, he also met a few elves on their way to the West. It would be nice to see how lovely Frodo’s life was in the Shire to understand how much he gave up, and so did Sam, Merry, and Pippin, for the greater good of Middle-earth.
Tom Bombadil, Barrow Wights, and the Old Forest
The original movies left out much of the first book, where Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin walked from the Shire to Bree while being chased by the Ringwraiths. A lot happened during this time. They got lost in the Old Forest, got trapped by the Old Man Willow, got rescued by Tom Bombadil, got captured by the Barrow-wights, got rescued by Tom Bombadil again, before getting to Bree and meeting a very cool Strider, a.k.a. Aragorn.
It makes sense for Jackson to have left these bits out from an already long movie, as they did not have a direct relation to the overall plot. However, these storylines and elements could possibly be explored in the new film with Frodo at its center, using flexibility and creative freedom.
Explaining the timeline
The movies do not delve much into the timelines, but in the book, the events of The Fellowship of the Ring took place over a much more extended period of time. Frodo was 33 years old when Bilbo vanished on his 111th birthday, leaving most of his possessions, Bag End, and the One Ring to his nephew. The Council of Elrond and the Fellowship's formation occurred 17 years later, when Bilbo was 50.
According to Boyens, The Hunt for Gollum is set somewhere in this window, although the duration will need some tweaking to match the movie timeline.
Gollum set out looking for Bilbo Baggins in around 2944 TA, a couple of years after the hobbit took the Ring from him. The overarching hunt for Gollum technically started somewhere around this time, as Gandalf did not believe Bilbo’s story of how he got the ring and suspected it to be one of the corrupted rings made by Sauron. The wizard sought the help of the elves of Mirkwood, the realm of Legolas’ father, Thranduil, to catch Gollum, but they failed.
Gollum made his way to Dale, located at the foot of Erebor’s Lonely Mountains, and learned where Bilbo came from. However, soon after this, Sauron declared his return to Mordor, which distracted Gandalf. He was also assured by Saruman, already corrupt at that point, that the Ring was of no concern any longer. But Gollum got captured by Sauron’s forces and, under torture, revealed Bilbo’s name and location.
This led to Sauron’s spies gathering around the Shire’s borders, which Gandalf noticed and thereafter recruited the help of Aragorn and the Dunedain to hunt for Gollum once again. This time, Aragorn caught Gollum, and Gandalf pried all he knew about the Ring out of him.
After the interrogation session, Gandalf left for the Shire to inform Frodo of the impending doom, leaving Gollum with the Mirkwood elves. But Gollum managed to escape and later started following the Fellowship, eventually becoming Frodo and Sam’s friendly foe and guide to Mount Doom.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is set to release on Dec. 17, 2027.