Ian McKellen Drops Bombshell Casting News for ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’

Some old friends are potentially returning to Middle-earth.

The next Lord of the Rings film is a film directed by and starring Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the original films. The film is titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and is expected to be released in December 2027. The series’ original director, Peter Jackson, will produce the film.

At the For the Love of Fantasy convention in London this past Sunday, several LOTR cast members were present for a panel, including Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies, and Billy Boyd.

While on stage, McKellen dropped a massive surprise for all the fans in attendance.

“I hear there’s going to be another movie based in Middle-earth, and it’s going to start filming in May. It’s going to be directed by Gollum, and it’s all about Gollum,” McKellen said. “I’ll tell you two secrets about the casting: There’s a character in the movie called Frodo, and there’s a character in the movie called Gandalf… Apart from that, my lips are sealed!”

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The crowd, of course, gasped in shock, while Wood (who played protagonist Frodo in the original trilogy) gave a knowing smile on stage. Warner Bros Discovery has not officially confirmed the return of McKellen and Wood, but all signs point to their reappearance.

In June, Serkis spoke with Collider about the film’s production.

“We’re very early on in the process. We’ve been talking about the film over the course of the last year. We’re about to start a period of prep in the next few months or so. We will be shooting in the early to mid-part of next year, I guess, and then it’ll be as long as it takes to shoot, which — it’s a sizable movie — all ready for a December 2027 release,” Serkis said.