Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood doesn't think the new Gollum movies are a "cash grab"

Given the immense success of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, it was never likely that Hollywood would let the franchise rest. Instead, like any other big property nowadays, new movies set in Middle-earth are coming, starting with The Hunt for Gollum, directed by iconic Gollum voice actor Andy Serkis and produced by Peter Jackson himself.

Ahead of this new era of Middle-earth movies being ushered in, original series veteran Elijah Wood (Frodo) weighed in on the projects. “I am excited,” Wood told Inverse. “I am obviously a fan of the creative team. I'm invested because it is the same creative team behind Lord of the Rings.”

Wood likes the idea of getting the old team back together. If anyone can do justice to a Gollum movie, it's the person who knows Gollum inside and out. “It's revisiting that character, giving Andy a movie to direct... There's no better person to shepherd that particular movie than the person who really created that character and knows that character through and through,” Wood explained. “It just feels like getting the band back together in a really cool way for a really unique piece.”

Of course, expanding a franchise with the scale of The Lord of the Rings is always going to inspire a certain level of apprehension among fans. Look no further than Prime Video's The Rings of Power, which came under flak before it even aired but has managed to win over many fans. Wood acknowledges the apprehension, but believes that the new movies have the right people behind them with the best intentions:

"When it comes to, and I think we're all a little bit sensitive to this, this world of trying to make more films within a certain kind of franchise, there can be a degree of cynicism associated with it. There can be this sort of, ‘Oh, f***, are they going to mess the thing up that I love? Is it just this kind of cash grab to exploit a specific thing?’"

While Wood won't reveal whether he's down to return to Middle-earth anytime soon, he's totally down to see many more movies in the series. “Honestly, there's so many different stories they could tell, so I'm excited to see what comes of it,” he concluded.

The Hunt for Gollum is expected to premiere sometime in 2026. It will be the first of two Gollum movies. Are you excited by these films? Let us know in the comments!

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