Andy Serkis won’t rule out original actors returning to Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

Fans are excited to have Andy Serkis return to the Lord of Rings franchise as his original character and as director for the upcoming movie The Hunt for Gollum.

Serkis reveals The Hunt for Gollum is still too far into its early stages to say where the storyline is headed and if they will write in any of the original characters.

The actor told Deadline,”That’s a difficult question to answer right at this moment in time, because we’re really in the nascent stages of what it is exactly where we’re doing, and where the story’s going to take us.

“So I don’t want to commit anything right now. I mean, because it’s so raw and so raw and wriggling, and we are just literally having very early state script discussions and ideas of exactly where and how we’re going to drop anchor with the character and his journey and how he is or comes into contact with other characters, and the characters that we know and don’t know. So still, I would hate to say anything that’s going to commit us at this point, because it’s literally all up for grabs.”

Details on The Hunt for Gollum are still unclear besides knowing that Serkis’s character will be a focal point. Many wonder when the movie will take place in the franchise as Gollum dies at the end of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He betrays Frodo at Mordor, acquires the ring, and then falls into the fiery pits below, killing himself and destroying the ring.

Between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, there’s room for original characters to return — like Frodo himself. It’s simply a question of how once the movie’s storyline is revealed.

According to ScreenRant, the movie could bring back Thranduil, the ruler of Mirkwood. The character originally appeared in The Hobbit. In Return of The King’s appendices, Gandalf sends Aragorn on a mission to capture Gollum and, when he does, he takes Gollum him to Thranduil.

“Gollum’s story is one of the most compelling to us in terms of a character that we couldn’t go as deeply into as we wanted to before, which sounds strange when you say that, given how familiar he is to everybody,” said Philippa Boyens. “Gollum’s life span takes place in such an interesting period of Middle-earth.”

It may be that fans will get a new side to Gollum. A side of the character that was never explored in the original franchise and introduces new characters from Tolkien’s books.

With The Hunt for Gollum set to release in 2026, fans will have to wait for more details. In the meantime, you can read whether the movie is connected to Rings of Power, and other new movies to watch.