The new Lord of the Rings movie will cast a new actor as Aragorn, it has been confirmed. The Hunt for Gollum is due out in cinemas next year, and takes place between the events of The Hobbit and main trilogy.
While a number of familiar faces will be back, including Andy Serkis – both in front of the camera as the titular character and behind as director – Elijah Wood as Frodo and Ian McKellen as Gandalf, don’t expect to see Viggo Mortensen on screen as Aragorn.
The storyline sees the future King of Gondor try to capture Gollum before he can tell Sauron about the One Ring’s location, and Serkis has now revealed that the role will be recast with a new actor.
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“I don’t know what’s out there at the moment, but I know there’s a lot of speculation, but let’s just say we are recasting the role and we are on the way to finding someone,” he told ScreenRant.
Alongside the yet-to-be-confirmed star, The Hunt for Gollum will welcome Kate Winslet to Middle-earth in an undisclosed role, while Serkis admitted they have to keep things under wraps generally for now.
However, the director did tease that the movie will be “grounded in the lore and the world and the vision of Peter Jackson’s trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy” with the original Lord of the Rings team, and will “feel like a proper Middle-earth film”.
Promising a “more internal psychological investigation into one of Tolkien’s most complex characters”, he continued: “It’s a very interesting mix, and I think it is a tightrope for sure. A lot of the filmmaking techniques are ones that we are employing, which harken back to the first trilogy.
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“I think it’ll be a great marriage of a new story and an intimate story within the lore and world of Middle-earth that we all love. You’ve got to remember that for some people, this will be their first Middle-earth film. So that’s why it’s been such an interesting journey.”
Elsewhere, another new Lord of the Rings movie has been confirmed called Shadow of the Past, which will be co-written by Stephen Colbert. Taking place after Frodo’s death, it will focus on hobbits Sam, Merry and Pippin, as well as Sam’s daughter Elanor.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be released in December 2027.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.