News

Last March, we got word that a new The Lord of the Rings movie titled The Hunt for Gollum was set to hit theaters in 2026, with Andy Serkis on board to direct and reprise the title role of Sméagol after first bringing the iconic character to life in Peter Jackson's acclaimed trilogy.

The project was later hit with a significant delay (that original date always seemed like a long shot), and Warner Bros. has now announced that the next live-action Lotr film will be with us on December 17, 2027.

Jackson and his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are set to return as producers, and “will be involved every step of the way,” according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.

Boyens recently confirmed that the story will be set "after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria.”

This time period is mentioned in both Tolkien's novels and Jackson's films,...

We wants it. We needs it. But we gotta waits for it.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (working title), the highly anticipated Lotr spin-off film from Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema, will hit theaters in December 2027. Yes, you read that right — moviegoers have to wait two-and-a-half years to see their favorite pale-skinned Middle-earth monster from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world up on the big screen again. Read on for everything to know about the new movie, including information on the cast, release date, and director.

Who's been cast in The Hunt for Gollum?

As of this writing, only Andy Serkis has been announced as starring in the new film. And yes, he's reprising his role as Gollum, a creature who was obsessed with the One Ring (which he called "my precious"). The English actor rose to fame in the early aughts for...

'Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum' will be released on December 17 2027.The spin-off movie of the hit franchise - which is based on the book series by J.R.R. Tolkien - will see Andy Serkis reprise his role as the titular monster, and on Thursday (08.05.25) developers New Line Cinema and Warner Bros announced the official release date.As well as starring, Serkis will take on the role of director, whilst Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens will serve once again as producer on the project.Jackson previously explained that it it made sense to explore Gollum/Sméagol more than the likes of Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) with the upcoming film. He told Deadline: "The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic."I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike,...

It's official: we're going back to Middle-earth. Today Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed the release date for its next Lord of the Rings film, The Hunt for Gollum: December 17, 2027. We'll be spending Christmas with Sméagol!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are working together again on The Hunt for Gollum and a second, as yet unnamed Lord of the Rings movie. They're part of the team that made the legendary trilogy of movies in the early 2000s, so obviously their involvement in The Hunt for Gollum bodes well.

Andy Serkis will of course return to the role of Gollum, which he played in both The Lord of the Rings movies as well as the first movie in The Hobbit trilogy. He's also the director for The Hunt for Gollum, which I imagine means we're going to be getting quite deep into Sméagol's psyche in this new movie.

Andy Serkis isn’t done with The Lord of the Rings franchise yet! Today, Warner Bros. New Line Cinema announced the release date for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, opening in theaters on December 17, 2027. Andy Serkis directs The Hunt for Gollum, with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Zane Weiner producing. The Hunt for Gollum is one of two new films set in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, destined for theaters from the producing group.

Andy Serkis is getting behind the camera for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and reprising his iconic role as the goblin-like scene-stealer for Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The director of the second film remains a mystery. Meanwhile, Walsh and Boyens will pen the screenplay alongside Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. Ken Kamins and Andy Serkis executive produce with The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish.

The Lord of the Rings...

Warner Bros has scheduled the releases of The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum to be directed by and star Andy Serkis,M. Night Shyamalan’s supernatural romantic thriller Remain with Jake Gyllenhaal, and a new Evil Dead film.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum (working title) will open for Warner Bros and New Line on December 17, 2027 and is conceived as the first of two films.

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens from The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies are reuniting to produce the two films set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth,...

Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum will head to cinemas in December 2027 as a Christmas treat. More on the film and its release plans below.

We’ve been waiting eagerly for more news about Andy Serkis’ return to Middle Earth as the director has been busy working on Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum.

The film, following the titular fan-favourite character, was announced in May 2024 and Warner Bros. has now dated it for 17th December 2027, as Deadline reports.

Serkis will not only direct, but star as Gollum as he did in the original Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The original team behind the award-hoarding trilogy, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, are heavily involved in The Hunt For Gollum, which is written by Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou.

Aside from that, we know very little about the film at this stage. Plot details...

Warner Bros. has slated some very high-profile new movies. Time to mark your calendars.

First off, a new entry in the “Evil Dead” franchise will arrive on July 24, 2026, from Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. This entry hails from director Sébastien Vaniček, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Florent Bernard. Original “Evil Dead” masterminds Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi are on board as producers, with Souheila Yacoub listed as the only cast member (so far).

Additionally, “Remain,” the latest from M. Night Shyamalan, will hit theaters on Oct. 23, 2026, just in time for Halloween. This project is really interesting, because it was created alongside novelist Nicholas Sparks. The novel version of “Remain,” co-authored by Shyamalan, hits bookstores this October, with the movie a full year from then. The movie version was produced by Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and Theresa Park. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Ashley Walters...

The Lord of the Rings spin-off movie, The Hunt for Gollum, has now been given a release date by Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema. The movie will adapt the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" book, and finds the wizard Gandalf the Grey (played by Ian McKellen in the original trilogy and The Hobbit movies) tasking Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen in the movies) with hunting down Gollum, who they believe has the One Ring.

After being pushed back earlier this year, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum has now officially been given a release date of December 17, 2027. Meaning that, much like Peter Jackson’s beloved trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will delight audiences in theaters during Christmas, providing delight, terror, and epic fantasy spectacle for the festive season.

According to Deadline, Disney also...

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum now has an official release date, and it continues a franchise trend. Based on the book series by J. R. R. Tolkien, the first live-action Lord of the Rings movie arrived in 2001 with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Five live-action movies later, Andy Serkis is now set to direct and star in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is expected to take place during the events of Jackson's first Middle-earth adventure.

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema now reveal that The Hunt for Gollum will release in theaters on December 17, 2027. The announcement confirms that Serkis will direct and star in the film, with Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens producing. The Hunt for Gollum's script will hail from Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiou. This new release...

The wait is over.

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema revealed Thursday that Andy Serkis’ The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will open in theaters on Dec. 17, 2027. So far, it has the lucrative year-end corridor to itself, but that’s sure to change as other studios fill in their calendars.

Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens — the Oscar-winning team behind the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies — are reuniting to produce two new films from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth for the Warners-owned New Line. Zane Weiner is also producing.

Andy Serkis will both direct Gollum and star in the titular role Walsh and Boyens are penning the screenplay alongside Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The director of the second film has yet to be announced.

Fans of the Evil Dead franchise also got good news on Thursday. In a twinned announcement, New...

Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema have set a Dec. 17, 2027 theatrical release for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

Currently Disney has an untitled Star Wars movie in Comscore on that that 2027 date, but that probably just hasn’t been scrubbed from the system yet. As we know, Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter with Ryan Gosling is dated for May 28, 2027. Universal has an untitled date reservation for Dec. 22, 2027.

That’s the corridor by the way that previous Peter Jackson directed Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies have bowed within. The first of the two films The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (*Wt) will be directed by and star Andy Serkis in the title role.

The Oscar-winning team behind the blockbuster The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies — Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens — is reuniting to produce two...

Gollum will officially return to the big screen for Christmas 2027. Warner Bros. has announced that Andy Serkis’ “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” will open in theaters Dec. 17, 2027. The studio has also dated the next “Evil Dead” movie, starring Souheila Yacoub, for July 24, 2026, and M. Night Shyamalan’s “Remain” for Oct. 23, 2026. Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor and Ashley Walters star in Shyamalan’s latest.

The release date for “The Hunt for Gollum” is hardly a surprise given all six movies in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” film trilogies opened in December ahead of the Christmas holiday. Each trilogy powered to $2.9 billion at the worldwide box office.

Warner Bros. first announced “The Hunt for Gollum” last summer and said it would be ready for theaters in 2026. The film has been delayed a year. Serkis is directing the tentpole and once again starring in the title role,...

In the many millennia since, literature became an avid means of escaping human toil, there have been many stories written and retold. And in the modern age, one can argue that none quite captures the imagination so wholly as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In the early 2000s, director Peter Jackson adapted Tolkien's tale of the Third Age of Middle-earth, with The Fellowship of the Ring, and the subsequent two films, earning Jackson's trilogy a spot in cinematic folklore. However, that journey is not ended, as May 2024 brought with it the revelation that a new wave of movies from Middle-earth would be descending upon us soon, and Liv Tyler would very much like to be a part of it.

Tolkien's stories offered us a vast array of brilliant Elven characters to adore, and in Jackson's trilogy, Tyler's Arwen stood out. The daughter of Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Celebrían,...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Netflix is one of the best places to find the best movies and TV shows you can watch on any streaming service. Every month, it adds hundreds of new titles to its content library. For instance, this month, we are getting the much-anticipated Season 4 of Love, Death & Robots and a new original comedy series titled The Four Seasons, but with that, some titles have to leave the service for a number of reasons. So, today, we are here to tell you about the best film and TV shows you should watch before they leave Netflix in May 2025.

About Time (May 1) Credit – Universal Pictures

About Time is a sci-fi romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The 2013 film follows Tim Lake, a young man who his father tells that the men in his family have the...

Exciting news from far over the misty mountains as a new update regarding the Lord of The Rings prequel, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, has emerged from dungeons deep and caverns old. The celebrated trilogy from Peter Jackson has become an international phenomenon and ushered in a fellowship of spin-off projects, including The Hobbit prequels and The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime, which has been renewed for a third season. The latest update from the Tcu (Tolkien Cinematic Universe) is that the new film centered around Gollum, directed by and starring Andy Serkis, is now extremely close to getting a script.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros Pictures co-chairman/CEO Pam Abdy just got a "dynamite check-in" with Philippa Boyens, who is currently penning the Hunt for Gollum script.

"Adding to things we’re excited about, Andy Serkis doing the Gollum film...We just had a...

Andy Serkis is returning to The Lord of the Rings franchise as the director of The Hunt for Gollum, but during a recent appearance at C2E2 2025, the actor took everyone back almost 25 years when he made his first on-set appearance in the now infamous motion capture suit that helped him bring Gollum to life.

As per Popverse, Serkis shared his memories of turning up on set more than four months into filming, and became an instant curiosity to the crew, who didn’t quite know what to make of “this guy with a shaved head in this very thin suit going, ‘[Gollum noise].’” He said:

“These guys had been filming for about 4 or 5 months before I got out to New Zealand. I was going through the preparations for becoming Gollum, and I was often on my own and crawling about, and kind of practicing, and doing what I was doing. And then the day came.

Andy Serkis has lined up a leading role in an upcoming animated TV movie. The Lord of the Rings star is the latest cast member added to the upcoming children's special A Lamb’s Stew.

Filmmaker Joeri Christiaen recently premiered an extended teaser for the project at the Cartoon Forum in Toulouse, France, but is now expanding A Lamb’s Stew into a half-hour special. Christiaen is working in collaboration with Julia Smuts Louw (Star Wars: Visions) on the screenplay.

Andy Serkis Lands Leading Role in New Animation Project

The voice cast for A Lamb’s Stew features Serkis as the voice of the Wolf, along with T’Nia Miller (Sex Education) and 11-year-old newcomer Iris Onyejiuwa, according to Variety. The mid-length animation is based around a little lamb named Billie attempting to prove the bravery of her species by luring a wolf into a trap. However, Billie discovers she has...

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy has turned out to be one of the greatest film trilogies ever made. In its wake have come other iterations of Middle Earth, with the most recent being the animated film The War of the Rohirrim and Prime Video's hit show Rings of Power, which has been renewed for a third season. There is yet another project that will emerge from Middle Earth, and it is centered on one of the Third Age's most consequential characters. Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in the original Lord of the Rings movies, will reprise his role in a new live-action film, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which he will also direct.

The new Middle Earth project will be produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, and Pam Abdy, co-chair/CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures, has offered an exciting update on the film.

Andy Serkis will be returning to Middle-Earth in 2027 when The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is set to be released in movie theaters. The project was first announced in 2024 and not only will Serkis be reprising his role as Gollum/Smeagol, he will also be directing the movie, which will be produced by Peter Jackson.

Per PopVerse, during a Lord of the Rings reunion panel at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Serkis gave an update on the progress of The Hunt for Gollum. At the panel, which also featured John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, Rhys-Davies asked Serkis about the status of the movie.

“Andy, how’s the film coming on?” Rhys-Davies asked Serkis during the panel. To which Serkis replied, “The new film? Which new film? Not The Hunt for Gollum film. Do you want me to...

Before Andy Serkis’ turn as Gollum/Smeagol in The Lord of the Ringstrilogy, motion capture had not been very widely used. It’s been nearly a quarter of a century since The Fellowship of the Ring was released, and now Serkis is synonymous with motion capture, but that wasn’t the case when he was making the Lord of the Rings film trilogy with director Peter Jackson.

Serkis, per PopVerse, appeared on a Lord of the Rings reunion panel at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) and talked about the reaction Jackson and the rest of the Lotr crew had to their first encounter with Serkis’ Gollum/Smeagol on set.

The actor/director recalled looking pretty silly in his motion capture suit at first. “These guys had been filming for about four or five months before I got out to New Zealand. I was going through the preparations for becoming Gollum,...

It’s likely to be more than two years before Lord of the Ringsfans will be treated to the next live-action film and the first since Peter Jackson's 2014 film, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. However, the next Middle-Earth epic film, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum,recently received an update from Warner Bros. Pictures.

Per Deadline, Pam Abdy, co-chair/CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures said in an interview that they recently heard from Andy Serkis, who is directing The Hunt for Gollum, about the film’s progress. “Adding to things we’re excited about, Andy Serkis doing the Gollum Film…” Abdy said.

Abdy added that the studio has also been in communication with The Hunt for Gollum co-writer Philippa Boyens as well. “We just had a dynamite check-in with Philippa Boyens on Gollum, and I think we’re about to get that script in May,...

The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with its first movie, 2001’s The Fellowship of the Rings, catapulted Orlando Bloom to superstar status, but the actor recalls feeling somewhat overwhelmed when he was cast in the Peter Jackson films. The actor, who played Legolas in the trilogy, would also reprise his role as the elf in 2013’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaugand 2014’s The Battle of the Five Armies.

Per People, Bloom, appearing on a Lord of the Rings panel at Awesome Con in Washington, D.C., opened up about how it felt working on the iconic films. “For me, as a young actor, I remember sitting there coming out of drama school with all of these legends,” Bloom said. “And thinking, ‘What am I doing here? How did this happen? This is unbelievable.’”

The Lord of the Rings was Bloom’s First Film

Bloom continued, “It was a feeling of excitement.

Sean Bean had already mastered the art of dying on-screen before Game of Thrones made it a global spectacle. Fans were still recovering from Boromir’s heroic last stand when GoT decided to serve up another heartbreak – Ned Stark’s shocking exit. While audiences were left traumatized, Bean himself had a clear favorite.

Sean Bean in The Lord of the Rings | Credits: New Line Cinema

He preferred Boromir’s arrow-filled farewell over Ned’s cold and public beheading. Can’t blame him, though – one had a warrior’s dignity, the other a messy political fallout.

Sean Bean’s ultimate death scene: Boromir’s heroic exit still reigns supreme Sean Bean in Game of Thrones | Credits: HBO

Sean Bean had died in all kinds of ways – beheaded, crushed, skewered, even pulled apart by horses. But when it came to picking a favorite, Boromir’s tragic last stand in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring...

Quick LinksSam's Osgiliath Speech Was a Metacommentary On The Lord of the RingsPeter Jackson Utilized the Medium of Film to its Full ExtentThe Two Towers' Ending Proves That Peter Jackson Understands Tolkien

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is hailed by many -- including Jackson himself -- as the greatest installment of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. There are many memorable events in The Two Towers, ranging from Gollum's proper debut to the pulse-pounding Battle of Helm's Deep, yet one of the film's best scenes came near the very end. In a divergence from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel, Faramir brought Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, and Gollum to Gondor. His goal was to deliver the One Ring to his father in Minas Tirith, but he was stopped at Osgiliath. A Nazgûl on its flying fell beast descended upon the city,...

Quick LinksFrodo and Gandalf Were Lined up to Say the PrologueJackson Crafted a Succinct Prologue But it Was Almost ScrappedGiving Galadriel the Prologue Added to Her High Status and Power

The opening of The Lord of the Ringsis a captivating prologue, voiced by Galadriel. She elegantly guides viewers through the history of the One Ring's existence, but it wasn't always going to be the strong voice of Cate Blanchett that viewers heard. It's no surprise that the process of creating the trilogy went through numerous edits and changes. J.R.R. Tolkien's work had to be made into a piece of cinema that was equally detailed, but there was a lot to live up to.

Tolkien's prologue in The Fellowship of the Ring was entitled Concerning Hobbits. It delved into their way of life and allowed viewers to get to grips with their world. As he continuously did, Tolkien delicately brought readers into his imaginative world.

For the second consecutive year, the Best Picture Oscar has been all in the family.

Husband and wife Sean Baker and Samantha Quan have earned statuettes for producing the comedy-drama “Anora,” one year after spouses Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas won the same award for “Oppenheimer.”

Baker and Quan, who shared the award with producer Alex Coco, are the fourth — or fifth, technically; see the “Lord of the Rings” team below — romantic partners to score the Oscar’s most coveted prize.

Julia Phillips was the first female producer to ever win Best Picture, 51 years ago, for the 1973 mystery drama “The Sting,” which she produced alongside Tony Bill and her then-husband Michael Phillips. They divorced the same year as their Oscar win, but continued to work together, producing “Taxi Driver” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Phillips wrote the brutal, blistering and best-selling memoir “You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again,...

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum was supposed to hit theaters in 2026. According to director Andy Serkis, that is no longer the case.

Speaking at 2025's Fan Expo Vancouver on Feb. 23, Serkis, who will be reprising his role as the titular Gollum/Smeagol, revealed that the movie's release date has unfortunately been pushed back by an entire year. "Yeah, it is not 2026. It was originally going to be December 2026. It is going to be December 2027," he said via The Direct.

Related10 Weirdest Creatures in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

The Lord of the Rings trilogy has featured some unique characters over the years, but nothing beats some of its admittedly weird creatures.

Serkis also offered some insight into the movie's production process. "We are right at the beginning of the writing process," the filmmaker explained. "We will be prepping later this year. Prep takes a good chunk of time,...

Quick LinksGollum Was His Own Worst Enemy in The Lord of the RingsGollum Overcame His Inner Demons -- But Not For LongGollum's Conversation With Himself Highlighted the Strengths of His Character

Peter Jackson and his team had extensive plans going into The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Pre-production began several years before cameras started rolling, giving them time to iron out the script, create elaborate sets and props, and plan out the cinematography. This was one of the crew's greatest strengths, and it kept production of The Lord of the Rings running relatively smoothly. Jackson's later The Hobbit trilogy was far more rushed, which led to countless struggles behind the scenes. However, even during the production of The Lord of the Rings, Jackson could not account for everything, so he sometimes needed to improvise. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, Jackson discussed some of his favorite scenes from the trilogy,...

Who knew Middle-earth’s biggest plot twist had happened off-camera? Richard Armitage, the brooding dwarf king Thorin Oakenshield himself, spilled the beans on The Hobbit’s ever-evolving script. By the time filming wrapped, the script had been rewritten so many times, it was a wonder the cast didn’t get whiplash trying to keep up.

Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbits | Credits: New Line Cinema

From plot twists to character arcs, nothing had been safe from last-minute changes.

Richard Armitage’s Hobbit journey: Rewrites, heavy armor, and on-set surprises Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbits | Credits: New Line Cinema

The Hobbit wasn’t just an adventure on screen; it was a full-blown rewrite marathon behind the scenes. Richard Armitage revealed that the script changes were relentless.

The rewrites weren’t random, though. As filming progressed, the characters’ voices evolved, and the writers – Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh,...

New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will make its global streaming debut on Friday, February 28 exclusively on Max. The film will debut on HBO linear on Saturday, March 1 at 8:00 p.m. Et.

Rated PG-13 for strong violence, the film opened in theaters on December 13, 2024. It grossed $20.5 million worldwide, with $9.2 million coming from North American theaters and $11.3 million from international markets.

Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan.

A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg— a mighty fortress that...

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim is set to begin streaming on Max on Friday, February 28. The New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation film will premiere on HBO linear on Saturday, March1 at 8 pm Et.

Based on characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien, War of the Rohirrim is set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of Lord of the Rings films. Pic tells the saga of the legendary House of Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan. When a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord attacks seeking vengeance for the death of his father, Helm’s daughter Héra must summon the will to lead the resistance or face total destruction. Kenji Kamiyama directs (Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series).

Voice cast is led by Brian Cox as Helm Hammerhand, the mighty King of Rohan; Gaia Wise...

Peter Jackson is easily recognized for his stunning work on The Lord of the Rings trilogy and its spinoff prequel, The Hobbit. However, the filmmaker also had a movie that was not as universally praised.

In 2009, he directed the supernatural drama The Lovely Bones. The star-studded film was based on Alice Sebold's 2002 novel of the same name, starring Saoirse Ronan in the main role as Susie Salmon, in the aftermath of her success in 2007's Atonement. Following a disappointing box office run and negative reception, The Lovely Bones found success on Netflix, debuting at number five in the global Top 10, with 3.3 million views and 4.6 million hours viewed, Tudum reports.

RelatedMichael Douglas' 2006 Political Action Film with 34% Rt Becomes a Hit on Netflix

Even actors with two Academy Awards have some bad films.

The movie is not available to stream on Netflix in the U.S. but reached the Top 10 in...

Sir Ian McKellen has played some of the most legendary characters in his decades-long career. From theatre to film, the actor has brought several characters to life with his extraordinary acting prowess. However, one of his most famous characters will forever remain the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and later The Hobbit.

Ian McKellen as Gandalf | Credit: New Line Cinema

While fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy world continue to love and cherish the actor’s portrayal, McKellen himself has kept iconic tokens from the franchise. Here is a glimpse into what treasures of the Middle-earth did he keep as souvenirs.

The iconic souvenirs that Sir Ian McKellen took from the Lord of the Rings set Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf | Credit: New Line Cinema

When actors wrap up filming, it is usual for them to nick pieces from the sets as a remembrance of their time spent on the project.

The Lord of the Rings’' Samwise Gamgee, had countless memorable lines throughout Peter Jackson’s trilogy. Lovingly played by Sean Astin, it’s hard to picture anyone else explaining “Po-tay-toes!” to Smeagol or comforting Elijah Wood’s Frodo Baggins (“It’s me. It’s your Sam. Don’t you know your Sam?). However, one late-night talk show host said he auditioned for the role as Frodo’s faithful companion.

Per Collider, Graham Norton, the Irish comedian and longtime host of the popular British late-night show, The Graham Norton Show, could have been in the trilogy, but he said he was “awful” in his audition. In an interview with The Hits Breakfast with Jono & Benradio show, Norton, who is also an actor, joked about his audition for the role that ultimately went to Astin.

RelatedWhat Samwise Gamgee Did Before The Lord of the Rings

Samwise Gamgee ended up being one...

Peter Jackson clearly failed to recreate his Lord of the Rings magic with The Hobbit trilogy. Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the earlier film trilogy, had no role in The Hobbit films. However, prior to the release of the Martin Freeman-starring first film, Mortensen expressed his one doubt about Jackson’s second film series in J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe.

Martin Freeman in a still from The Hobbit films | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Mortensen’s doubt turned out to be valid as that one thing became the trilogy’s biggest enemy. Jackson tried to emulate the success of The Lord of the Rings but made a big misstep when he tried to follow the three-film format of the earlier film series to these prequel films.

Viggo Mortensen had doubts about Peter Jackson’s misstep in The Hobbit trilogy Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings films...

The Lord of the Rings franchise will be returning with new films in the near future, but Elrond star Hugo Weaving won't be partaking. 2024 was an exciting year for Tolkien fans, with a new season of Prime Video's The Rings of Power and an animated film, War of the Rohirrim. However, the biggest and most unexpected announcement was that members of the original cast would be returning for a feature film centered around Gollum. The Hunt for Gollum is set to be released in 2026, with Andy Serkis directing and starring and Peter Jackson producing.

The return of Andy Serkis as Gollum implies that, unlike The Rings of Power, these new movies will be directly connected to the previous Lord of the Rings movies, especially in the era of shared universes. Ian McKellen is set to reprise his role as Gandalf, and questions have begun swirling around Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn,...

The Lord of the Rings genius Peter Jackson wasn’t exactly itching to join the The Rings of Power bandwagon. You’d think he’d be all in for another Middle-earth adventure, right? Nah, not really. Jackson had one very specific condition before he’d even consider getting involved.

Peter Jackson. | Image by Mike Walen, licenced under Cca-by-sa-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Spoiler alert: that condition wasn’t met, and Jackson gracefully bowed out. Turns out, even the king of Middle-earth has his limits.

Peter Jackson’s hypnotic wish: Watching The Rings of Power with fresh eyes The Orc family in The Rings of Power Season 2 | Credits: Amazon MGM

Peter Jackson had one condition for being part of The Rings of Power: he needed a clean slate to watch it as a fan. The legendary director, who brought J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings to life, once joked about...

Quick Links Helm's Deep Was Extremely Well Fortified Saruman's Forces Did What Wulf's Could Not The War of the Rohirrim Revealed Secrets About Helm's Deep

The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, now playing in theaters and available to buy or rent digitally.

Helm's Deep was the site of the most famous battle from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It was an ancient fortress built within a gorge of the White Mountains, which separated the kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor. In The Two Towers, the Rohirrim -- along with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, and some Elven archers led by Haldir -- used Helm's Deep to defend themselves against Saruman the White's army of Uruk-hai. The iconic keep returned two decades later in Kenji Kamiyama's animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,...

The Lord of the Rings gets a Christmas twist in a new music video, which features Gollum attempting to secure his Precious during the holiday season. Based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson first brought the world of Middle-earth to life in 2001, with his trilogy ultimately concluding in 2003. Gollum plays a large role in the second and third films, leading Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) through Mordor to Mount Doom, though he eventually gives in to his desire for the One Ring.

Brendan Dalton now puts Gollum front and center in a new Lord of the Rings music video called "Gollum's Christmas." The video, which is presented in claymation, features Gollum enjoying a very Merry Christmas with the One Ring, often appearing alongside Frodo and Sam in a version of Middle-earth that's been decked out for the holidays. Just because it's Christmas, though, doesn't mean Gollum is being any less mischievous.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is the latest entry in the celebrated and hugely popular Lord of the Rings series of films, and it tells the story of Helm Hammerhand defending the kingdom of Rohan from an army of Dunlendings. War of the Rohirrim reviews were split, though there weren't many ardent defenders of the film, as its box office failings became apparent throughout its first weekend in theaters. Personally, I think the film is solid enough, but its release does have me worried about the upcoming plans for the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Since the rights to The Lord of the Rings franchise were sold a few years ago, the number of releases in the series has been steadily increasing, from video games, to TV shows, with an influx of new feature films that are set to be released, and unfortunately, War of...

Well, that was fast. New Line Cinema’s anime feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which opened on Dec. 13 to a very low $4.5M, will be available on digital in home on Dec. 27, repping a 14-day theatrical window.

War of the Rohirrim will be available on all participating digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Fandango at Home, and more. Note, just because the movie is available in home, doesn’t mean it won’t continue to play in theaters. That said, there’s a competition this Christmas with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Mufasa, Wicked and Moana 2, and it will be very hard to hold screens on a movie that didn’t perform well.

The $30M animated production fell 72% in its second weekend with $1.25M for a $7.3M running total. Warners greenlit the movie before Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy took control of...

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum producer Philippa Boyens explains which movie from Peter Jackson's original trilogy the upcoming film will be most similar to. Following the release of anime The War of the Rohirrim, audiences will get to return to a live-action version of Middle-earth from director Andy Serkis. The Hunt for Gollum's story is expected to take place within the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, chronicling Gandalf and Aragorn's attempts to apprehend Gollum before he can speak of Frodo and the One Ring to Sauron.

During a recent interview with SlashFilm, Boyens, who also produces The War of the Rohirrim, shares new details about The Hunt for Gollum. The producer touches on the movie's general tone, revealing that it will have a lot of similarities to The Two Towers (2002) as a film that helps to bridge the larger parts of a narrative together.

Imagine Frodo Baggins swapping his epic quest for a romantic subplot that’d make Tolkien’s ghost do a somersault in his grave. Sounds wild, right? Before Peter Jackson gave us the masterpiece we know and love, The Lord of the Rings script once had Frodo getting cozy with Lady Galadriel in a storyline that screamed fanfiction gone wrong.

Peter Jackson | Image by: Mike Walen, licenced under Cca-by-sa-3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The idea of the shy Hobbit sharing anything other than a solemn gaze with the ethereal Elf Queen would’ve turned Middle-earth into a soap opera. Thankfully, Jackson swooped in like Gandalf at dawn to save the day, sparing fans (and Tolkien’s legacy) from one truly questionable scene.

Frodo, Galadriel, and frozen Hobbits? The insane Lord of the Rings script that almost happened Morfydd Clark as Galadriel in The Rings of Power | Credits: New Line Cinema

Imagine Frodo hooking up with Galadriel.

Light the beacons and gather your movie-going fellowship of friends: a new Lord of the Rings movie is out now in theaters! The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an anime prequel film from director Kenji Kamiyama, set 183 years before The Hobbit when the forces of Mordor were quiet and Rohan was ruled by a fearsome king named Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox). Hammerhand is a mythic figure in Tolkien's lore, and the man for whom the famed fortress of Helm's Deep, which features heavily in The Two Towers, is named.

But who was he really? And was his legend truly all his own? The War of the Rohirrim brings this story to life for the first time onscreen, expanding Helm as a character and building out the role of his daughter, Héra (Gaia Wise), who is mentioned but never even named in Tolkien's writing. Here, Héra...

One would be forgiven for not noticing, but a new movie in one of the most successful franchises in cinema history arrived in theaters over the weekend. The movie in question is "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim," an animated rendition of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien that takes place long before the events of director Peter Jackson's original trilogy. Unfortunately, audiences largely seemed uninterested in this supplemental tale, given its lousy box office haul. That said, Warner Bros. probably isn't all that bothered by it, as this was a decision made with bigger business in mind.

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama ("Blade Runner: Black Lotus"), "The War of the Rohirrim" opened to an estimated $4.6 million at the domestic box office in its debut, landing at number five on the charts. Given that "The Lord of the Rings" films have made nearly $6 billion globally, including the "Hobbit" trilogy,...

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim has debuted to $4.6 million at the box office, according to a recent report by Variety. However, it was revealed that the film’s performance in the box office was not Warner Bros.’ primary focus.

The anime film, which was produced on a $30 million budget, was developed and rushed into production primarily to safeguard New Line Cinema’s rights to adapt J. R. R. Tolkien’s works.

The studio has held these rights through a licensing agreement with Zaentz Co. since the late 1990s. Though the specific terms of the contract are not public, it is believed that Warner Bros. is required to maintain active development and production of Tolkien-related projects to retain the rights.

In early 2022, Zaentz Co., which controls a portfolio of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit rights, reportedly began exploring a sale of its Tolkien holdings.

Is A New Lord of the Rings Trilogy Happening? (Photo Credit – Prime Video)

Can we expect the return of another The Lord of the Rings trilogy? Well, get excited, Tolkien fans, because Philippa Boyes, the co-writer of the iconic movie trilogy, has recently teased a potential new trilogy that is in the works.

It turns out that after Peter Jackson’s original fantasy trilogy rocked the box office from 2001 to 2003, and of course, his return for The Hobbit, it seems Middle-earth may not be done with us. And we honestly don’t want them to be done with us. First, we have the anime The War of the Rohirrim that hit the theaters recently, and then The Hunt for Gollum, which is in development with Jackson on board as producer. Looks like the adventure is far from over.

All About The Lord of the Rings’ Potential New Trilogy

In a recent chat with The Playlist,...

The newly released The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was fast-tracked to ensure that New Line Cinema kept the franchise's movie rights. The anime film released on Friday, December 13 and has so far seen disappointing box office returns, placing fifth in its opening weekend. The $4.6 million debut set a new low for a Lord of the Rings feature film in the Peter Jackson era.

However, box office performance might not have been the studio's primary concern. ScreenRant has confirmed that after The War of the Rohirrim was announced in 2021, it was fast-tracked by the studio to ensure the Lord of the Rings franchise's movie rights remained with New Line. This would buy time for series stewards Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens to plan out new live-action films, including The Hunt for Gollum and another yet to be named.

What This Means For The Lord Of The Rings...

One original Lord of the Rings movie trilogy writer is speaking out on rumors surrounding her team and the team behind Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series. Per GamesRadar+, Philippa Boyens, who also serves as a producer on The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim and the upcoming live-action film The Hunt for Gollum, said expanding on J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe is a good thing.

“I have this belief and I hope it’s true in terms of The Rings of Power, I think being able to expand upon the world is only a good thing,” Boyens said.

I think being able to expand upon the world is only a good thing.

She added, “I particularly love that particular piece of Middle-earth history. Some people seem to think there is a rivalry or conflict between the projects, but there is...