The Lord of the Rings franchise is continuing to grow and expand. Of course, we've got Prime Video's prequel series The Rings of Power, and later this year The War of the Rohirrim will drop. Also currently in development is The Hunt for Gollum, a new live-action picture produced by Peter Jackson and helmed by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Jackson's original trilogy.
The announcement of a new Lord of the Rings movie has naturally prompted fans to wonder whether any of the original cast will return. We've already heard from some of the movie's biggest stars, such as Viggo Mortensen, who's expressed that he's totally down to jump back into Middle-earth: "Sure. I don't know exactly what the story is, I haven't heard. Maybe I'll hear about it eventually. I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot," he told GQ.
In addition, Ian McKellen has declared that he's more than happy to continue playing Gandalf, as long as he's alive. “If I'm alive,” he candidly told The Times.
This brings us onto Hugo Weaving, the most recent actor to address whether he'll reprise his role. Unlike Viggo Mortensen and Ian McKellen, who both seem enthusiastic about returning to Middle-earth, Weaving isn't particularly fussed about it. He's played the stately elf Elrond in six movies across the franchise, and he believes his time in Middle-earth is over.
"Personally, I’ve had enough of that," Weaving told GamesRadar+. "It was great being in New Zealand on and off over a ten year period. I did then go back and work with the same team on a project called Mortal Engines which was going to be their next big franchise, but it died on its arse. So, I’ve had enough of Middle-earth I don’t imagine anyone would ask me to do it again."
He went on to explain that him returning wouldn't feel true to his character Elrond, who's immortal; therefore his aging would make no sense:
""Elrond is meant to be immortal and I’m aging. Elrond is one of the few characters, I think there’s only three or four of them, who spans through The Silmarillion, Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. But even when we went back to reshoot certain parts of Lord of the Rings, I was aware I was older than I was before. And shooting stuff on The Hobbit was starting to get slightly silly. I loved being a part of that franchise but I have absolutely no plans or desires to be a part of it anymore.""
I'm pretty sure digital de-ageing could help with keeping Elrond immortal. But hey, after six movies, I think Hugo Weaving has every right to step back.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum doesn't have a release date yet, but we can expect it to hit cinemas sometime in 2026. Hugo Weaving's latest project, Slow Horses season 4, is out now!
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