Not so long ago, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings franchise looked complete. The filmmaking icon turned each of J.R.R. Tolkien's three literary installments into cinematic gold, and eked out The Hobbit into a further three entries. With The Silmarillion posing a legal and logistical nightmare, it looked as if Jackson's Middle-earth had nowhere else to go, and the director could happily pursue other creative avenues involving dog-loving Belgian reporters and The Beatles.
The completion of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings franchise was seemingly confirmed when the original trilogy started to age like fine wine. Over the past 20 years, The Lord of the Rings' movie legacy has only grown in stature. The visuals hold up, the quotes still resonate, and the cultural impact is proving cross-generational. Jackson could rest easy knowing his contribution to The Lord of the Rings was set in stone.
A major part of that legacy is unquestionably the note-perfect casting. From screen icons like Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, and Sean Bean to lesser-known names (at the time) such as Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, and Dominic Monaghan, the Lord of the Rings movie cast became part of our cultural consciousness, seared into the fabric of movie lore. The original cast remains so beloved, it's almost impossible to see any other actor as Gandalf, as Aragorn, or as Frodo, even if two of that trio have already been recast.
And yet, The Lord of the Rings' cast is changing in 2027, and it's changing in a way that suggests Peter Jackson's franchise is far from over.
Since 2024, The Lord of the Rings has been very gradually, almost stealthily, shifting back into being an active major movie franchise. The process started with The War of the Rohirrim, which, as an anime-inspired feature, was never intended to draw the same level of attention as the 2000s-2010s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. Nevertheless, the involvement of Philippa Boyens (who worked on Jackson's previous Tolkien movies) and the return of Miranda Otto as Éowyn positioned The War of the Rohirrim as a smaller extension of the classic movies.
Then came Andy Serkis' The Hunt for Gollum, due for release in December 2027. Like The War of the Rohirrim, Serkis' movie is being touted as a smaller story within the world of The Lord of the Rings, this time taking place before and during The Fellowship of the Ring. This new adventure isn't designed to be as epic in scale as the main series, but being a full live-action production inherently brings far more attention, buzz, and expectation compared to the animated The War of the Rohirrim. Furthermore, Peter Jackson himself is serving as a producer.
After that will be Stephen Colbert's Shadow of the Past, which takes things just one step further. Like The War of the Rohirrim and The Hunt for Gollum, Colbert's movie will still be a side story. Like The Hunt for Gollum, it'll be a live-action production. Unlike its two cousins, however, Shadow of the Past will include storylines taking place after the main trilogy, serving as a part-sequel.
The Lord of the Rings' new releases are getting bigger and bolder with each installment. Rather than announcing a full-scale revival, like Amazon adapting the Second Age or Disney making a new Star Wars trilogy, it's almost like Warner Bros. is steadily acclimatizing audiences to the idea of taking Peter Jackson's Middle-earth beyond Tolkien's borders.
The Hunt for Gollum will bring back Ian McKellen's Gandalf, Elijah Wood's Frodo, and Lee Pace's Thranduil, of course alongside Andy Serkis as Gollum. The remainder of the cast is, frankly, ridiculous, reading like a dream lineup of major talents from several eras. Jamie Dornan takes over from Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, while new characters will be portrayed by Kate Winslet, Leo Woodall, and Anya Taylor-Joy, bringing together a collection of A-list names that absolutely rivals the original The Lord of the Rings movie cast.
It perhaps isn't surprising that Hollywood's most famous faces are keen to be part of Middle-earth's cinematic legacy, but in Leo Woodall and Anya Taylor-Joy, The Lord of the Rings has two very current stars both playing movie-original characters not found within Tolkien canon. That raises questions over whether one or both of them is being lined up as a key part of the franchise's future.
Taylor-Joy is playing Seren, a Sindar elf, while Woodall portrays Halvard, likely one of Strider's rangers, based on the name. Assuming they survive the events of The Hunt for Gollum, both would be alive throughout the War of the Ring. If The Hunt for Gollum gets viewers invested in Seren and Halvard as characters, there would be an opportunity for Taylor-Joy and Woodall to appear in further films set during The Two Towers, The Return of the King, or after Sauron's defeat. Certainly, either of them could return in Shadow of the Past, which Colbert claims is based on an unseen chapter from The Fellowship of the Ring, so would take place very shortly after The Hunt for Gollum.
There's just something about casting Taylor-Joy and Woodall, two of the industry's brightest young talents, that suggests Seren and Halvard will not be fleeting characters. They're the kind of names you cast when building a franchise for a new generation.
The War of the Rohirrim was not a hugely successful venture, neither critically nor commercially, with 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and just over $20 million grossed at the box office (via BoxOfficeMojo). Given its animated format, the Rohan spinoff isn't necessarily reflective of how a live-action The Lord of the Rings movie would fare in 2027, which means the real litmus test will be The Hunt for Gollum. If Serkis' film proves hugely popular, then it's hard to imagine Shadow of the Past will be the only follow-up.
The pendulum swings the other way too. The box office landscape has changed hugely since the last chapter in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit series released, and there's an understandable air of skepticism over whether this tiny slither of Gollum canon can sustain a feature-length story. The prospect of a new The Lord of the Rings movie, especially one with such a stacked cast, will surely entice casual viewers, but The Hunt for Gollum needs to offer much more than just 2000s nostalgia.
It's a difficult balance, and Andy Serkis faces a daunting challenge getting it right, but it's no overstatement to say that The Hunt for Gollum has the potential to trigger a whole new wave of The Lord of the Rings movies starring a largely new cast.
