The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is currently in development, and while many are excited to see their favorite fantasy franchise return to the big screen, others are a bit nervous.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was a big risk when it began filming in 1999. Giving a lesser-known filmmaker a fortune to make three movies back to back, adapting an iconic fantasy epic, was considered a surprising move by New Line Cinema. It could have easily backfired and left them with financial failures.
Of course, the LOTR films ultimately became record-breaking hits, winning Oscars and inspiring numerous fantasy films. The franchise continued with The Hobbit trilogy and The Rings of Power TV show. Now we’re getting The Hunt for Gollum with Andy Serkis directing and Peter Jackson producing. It was recently confirmed that Frodo and Gandalf will appear.
Here are 10 reasons we’re a bit doubtful of The Hunt for Gollum—at least at this time.
The Hobbit was messy
A big problem is that the last time a LOTR property hit the big screen, it was the disappointing Hobbit trilogy. Jackson worked magic in the original films, but the sequels were overbloated with unneeded additions and changes, despite their box office success.
Even with a tighter storyline with The Hunt for Gollum, there’s still the problem of the movie being all special effects and action without a strong enough story to back it up.
Gollum isn’t a strong central character
Yes, Gollum was one highlight of the LOTR trilogy thanks to how Serkis’s performance was unlike anything seen before. That ignores that he works as a side character, linked to the One Ring. That made for a great spotlight in the trilogy and his brief appearance in The Hobbit, but putting him front and center of a movie exposes him too much as an unlikeable character.
Do we need three hours of Gollum arguing with himself, scampering about, and hunting Frodo? Remember the 2023 Gollum game, which was quickly established as the worst LOTR game ever? It proved that a weak, cowardly figure drowning in selfishness does not make a compelling lead character. Pushing him as the star of a movie is a strange move.
Serkis is still unproven as a director
Serkis is arguably the greatest motion-capture performer alive, not just with Gollum but also with the Planet of the Apes and Star Wars movies. He’s also proven himself a capable actor in Andor and the MCU. Having him as a key creative force for a Gollum movie is needed. However, as a director, Serkis isn’t exactly established as able to handle a movie like this.
His biggest studio film has been Venom: Let There Be Carnage, with buzz on his upcoming Animal Farm adaptation mixed. Serkis has experience with Middle-earth, but being on camera is a lot different than behind it, and helming an expensive project can be daunting for even the most experienced directors.
Can we trust Warner Bros?
New Line Cinema truly cared for LOTR, giving Jackson what he needed in budget and some creative freedom to make the movies a success. Sadly, New Line as we knew it no longer exists after merging with Warner Bros. As in the same studio that’s become notorious for cost-cutting and even shelving fully completed movies for tax breaks, we worry about its integrity.
Warner Bros. may seem supportive of the movie now, but there’s no telling what happens in the whims of Hollywood studios. They may suddenly slash the budget or even send the movie to HBO Max rather than a theatrical release. Of course, we're just speculating here, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility given the studio's track record.
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The source material is weak
The Rings of Power at least can touch on some of the appendices and lore Tolkien left behind. In contrast, the talk of how Gandalf, Aragorn, and others hunt for Gollum isn’t that long. It’s practically a throwaway comment in the original text and sounds more like something for an animated anthology episode than an entire movie. Stretching this thing out is a major risk, as there simply might not be enough to build a film on.
We don’t need more prequels
First it was Star Wars, then Star Trek, now it’s The Lord of the Rings suffering from prequel fever. The Rings of Power has its moments, but is criticized for being too into building up a story that everyone knows the ending to already. A Gollum movie could be worse, as it’s not needed. We know he was out there searching for the Ring, and we know Gandalf and Aragorn were hunting. We don't need a full movie of it.
Of course, covering stories following the LOTR trilogy would be tricky, yet the prequels to the story can be just as rough. See The War of the Rohirrim, which was a fair attempt at expanding a long-ago tale, but received mixed reviews.
The Hunt for Gollum is a serious test of fans' faith in LOTR to once more go to the well in nostalgia at the cost of weakening the franchise’s value.
It can mess up the canon
The Hobbit already shook things up in the LOTR canon, from how Gandalf knew Sauron was out there to adding in the character of Tauriel. The Hunt for Gollum could do the same, as it might push Gandalf and Aragorn to know more about the Ring, not to mention some sort of meeting between Aragorn and Frodo before Fellowship. There’s also meddling with Gollum’s backstory and Sauron’s return happening so soon.
Not to mention the temptation by the filmmakers to explore Gollum’s long life and how he was on the outskirts of various events, just no one ever saw him. LOTR fans take the canon pretty seriously, and seeing it messed up yet again wouldn't be the way to win them over.
The original actors have aged too much
De-aging CGI has come a long way, but it’s still not perfect. Which is why actors reprising their roles would be risky, except for Gollum, of course. It has not been confirmed if any other actor from the other movies will appear in The Hunt for Gollum, though multiple have expressed interest.
Plus, Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote the original trilogy, shared last year that they’ve asked Viggo Mortensen to return, though we don’t know what his decision is.
If original actors are brought back with de-aging, viewers will be distracted by the effect rather than pulled into the story. It also adds to the budget, which could cause issues.
It feels too “cash grab”
Though we have our complaints about The Hobbit, it did make sense to give fans the prequel tale to LOTR. It was logical to show Bilbo’s early adventures and how he got the One Ring. Likewise, The Rings of Power, building to the original War for the Ring, is also a good story to explore. But as noted above, not many fans are crying out for a story all about searching for Gollum wandering around Middle-earth.
This just feels like a blatant cash grab in an attempt to keep up interest in the saga. It’s not unlike the various MCU TV shows or the Star Wars spinoff films that had a so-so record. Too often, such films falter with fans, as it’s more about the nostalgia factor than any actual story.
It robs the franchise of mystique
Franchising has its drawbacks, as Marvel or Star Wars can attest. For every addition made to a great saga, it can water down what made the original work shine so well. The Hobbit was already a blow against LOTR, and The Rings of Power has added to it in some ways.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was almost lightning in a bottle, a huge gamble by Jackson and New Line Cinema that worked thanks to the care taken with it. The Hobbit proved that the same filmmakers can’t always replicate that magic again, so it’s hard to see how Serkis can do it.
Maybe The Hunt for Gollum will prove the naysayers wrong (including me), but as it stands, there are good reasons why this is the riskiest Lord of the Rings production yet.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum premieres on Dec. 17, 2027.