Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO has hyped the studio’s forthcoming return to Middle-earth via The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Slated to arrive in theaters in December 2027, the latest installment in the hit fantasy franchise will see Gollum actor Andy Serkis ᴀssume directorial duties, while Peter Jackson will write and produce alongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

Announced in May 2024, The Hunt for Gollum will be the franchise’s first live-action movie since 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Initially slated for a 2026 release, the film was later pushed back 12 months to allow for the script to be finalised.

During an earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav revealed he has “got a great script” for the next Lord of the Rings movie from Jackson. This latest revelation follows Serkis’ earlier ᴀssertion that they were only at the beginning of the writing process in February this year, and hoped to commence production in 2026.

What The New Lord of the Rings Script Means For The Hunt for Gollum

While there has been no shortage of new Middle-earth content since the conclusion of The Hobbit trilogy, The Hunt for Gollum will mark a much-anticipated return to Jackson’s version of Tolkien’s fantasy world. Given the lackluster box office haul of 2024’s The War of the Rohirrim, it will also serve as an important litmus test for the franchise’s continued longevity.

As such, it is imperative that the script for The Hunt for Gollum not only harkens back to the appeal of Jackson’s original movies, but also delivers a story capable of justifying its creation as its own spinoff movie.

While many audiences are already familiar with Aragorn’s quest to track down Gollum, the original tale was largely relegated to the appendices of Tolkien’s books and pales in comparison to the vast wealth of source material that helped inform the original movies. Zaslav’s confidence in the script is a promising sign, but fans have good reason to be cautious.

Our Take On The Hunt For Gollum’s Script

Despite the concerns previously raised about the liberties Jackson had taken with Tolkien’s writings when he made The Hobbit trilogy, this new Lord of the Rings spinoff may also find itself having to introduce other non-canonical characters and events to flesh out the story into a feature-length film.

Given that Prime Video’s The Rings of Power has also faced criticism for diverting from Tolkien’s lore, the pressure on Jackson and his team to get this latest movie right has probably never been higher. With any luck, Zaslav’s ᴀssessment of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum script promises a much-anticipated return to form for the IP.