The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum looks set to repeat a mistake of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. As far as Lord of the Rings rankings go, many tend to agree that the Hobbit movies are not on the same level as the original trilogy. They certainly have their merits, but some mistakes were made.

Nonetheless, upcoming Lord of the Rings movies seem to be returning to live-action filmmaking for the first time since what is often considered the worst Hobbit movie, The Battle of the Five Armies, in 2014. The order of Lord of the Rings movies is about to have a new addition, nestled between the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.

That story is The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, a movie directed by and starring Andy Serkis as the тιтular character. The movie will be released in December 2027 and is seemingly set to star several returning actors from the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. Despite the excitement surrounding this, it could be repeating one of The Hobbit‘s key mistakes.

The Hunt For Gollum Is Relying On Too Much Original Trilogy Nostalgia

The mistake The Hunt for Gollum may be making is banking too much on nostalgia for the original Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit suffered from this to an extent, with many feeling as though the tie-ins to the original Lord of the Rings movies were forced and unearned.

Several moments from The Hobbit felt like this, notably the mention of Aragorn to Legolas without actually saying his name in The Battle of the Five Armies or the opening of An Unexpected Journey starring Elijah Wood and Ian Holm. In The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, this feeling could return.

The film is already confirmed to feature Andy Serkis, with Ian McKellen recently confirming that Gandalf and Frodo will be in The Hunt for Gollum. While it was not revealed whether McKellen and Wood will reprise their roles, the characters have at least been cemented in the movie.

Although it does make sense for Gandalf to be in the movie, as well as Serkis’ Gollum, it seems as though Frodo’s return – and the overall pivot back to original trilogy characters after the somewhat original War of the Rohirrim – is a nostalgic play.

Another Lord Of The Rings Movie Proves The Franchise’s Mistake

To further prove how Lord of the Rings is relying on nostalgia going forward, another upcoming movie has been confirmed to center around Gandalf. In an interview with Empire, screenwriter Philippa Boyens confirmed two movie ideas were in the works. One was The Hunt for Gollum, the other was another Gandalf-focused story.

Evidently, the franchise is looking to return to its roots with upcoming cinematic movies. However, relying on nostalgia with not enough original ideas can be a burden. The Hobbit managed to strike this balance well enough, though some of the aforementioned moments did not work.

A movie like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is an example of when nostalgia becomes too much. Hopefully, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum manages to find the right balance between nostalgia and an original story. That said, thus far, it seems it may be repeating a mistake of the franchise’s past.