We officially have a new Lord of the Rings movie on the way. Produced by Peter Jackson, The Hunt for Gollum is based on material from the appendices in the back of J.R.R. Tolkien's original Lord of the Rings books. This marks Jackson's seventh movie in the franchise, with his last being The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, back in 2014.
The old fellowship is being reunited for The Hunt for Gollum. Andy Serkis is back on board to direct and star as Gollum, with Jackson serving as a producer. As for other returning cast members, nothing has been confirmed yet. But given that Aragorn will most likely play a part in the story — it will purportedly follow Gollum as Gandalf and Aragorn hunt for him, which happens early on in the story — it's hard to look further than Viggo Mortensen himself to reprise his role.
Recently, Mortensen weighed in on the upcoming movie, revealing that he's certainly not against stepping back into Aragorn's shoes. "Sure. I don't know exactly what the story is, I haven't heard. Maybe I'll hear about it eventually," he told GQ. "I like playing that character. I learned a lot playing the character. I enjoyed it a lot."
He'd only return, however, if it made sense in terms of the story The Hunt for Gollum is trying to tell. He doesn't sound too interested in pointless cameos.
""I would only do it if I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth. I would only do it if I was right for the character. It would be silly to do it otherwise.""
In a more recent interview with THR, Mortensen reiterated the importance of a solid script. "The script is the most important thing to me unless I’m broke, I have no money and I’m lucky to get any job. So it depends."
One thing's for sure: the return of Aragorn would make for some enormous hype. Unlike Legolas, Gandalf, etc, who appeared in The Hobbit movies, Aragorn hasn't featured in the franchise since The Return of the King, over two decades ago. Is The Hunt for Gollum the perfect movie for a reunion? Only time will tell.
Elijah Wood, who played Frodo in Jackson's trilogy, recently told JoBlo that he's be interested in returninto the role as well:
"It would be pretty incredible. I have to say, any return to New Zealand to work with those individuals within the context of that world would be…jumping back into a world that’s so beloved and means so much to me. So yeah, it would be awesome."
The Hunt for Gollum doesn't have a release date yet. It is expected to premiere in 2026.
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