Lord of the Rings icon and acting legend Sir Ian McKellen has quite purposefully (and pretty surprisingly) let slip which original characters from the main ensemble will return in the upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
During a recent appearance at the For the Love of Fantasy event in London over the weekend, McKellen, who starred as the powerful wizard Gandalf across both the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy that followed, took to the stage and made the sudden announcement that, not only will he return for the upcoming spin-off The Hunt for Gollum, so will Elijah Wood’s character, Frodo Baggins.
“I hear there’s going to be another movie based in Middle-earth and it’s going to start filming in May. It’s going to be directed by Gollum, and it is all about Gollum. But I’ll tell you two secrets about the casting. There’s a character in the movie called Frodo and there’s a character in the movie called Gandalf. Apart from that, my lips are sealed!”
Alongside McKellen, several other original cast members from the Lord of the Rings movies, including Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, and John Rhys-Davies also took to the stage for the event. Currently, it is not yet known whether McKellen and Wood will actually reprise their roles. But with Andy Serkis set to return as Gollum, as well as taking the reins as director, it would surely make sense to bring more original stars back rather than go through an inevitably controversial recast.
‘Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’ Is Set for Release in 2027
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is, in fact, a prequel, taking place during the events of 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Based on the appendices of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” the movie will follow Gandalf as he sets the ranger Aragorn with an important task: finding Gollum before he can reveal the whereabouts of the One Ring to the villainous Sauron. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is being written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiou, and sees motion-capture maestro Andy Serkis return to both direct and star as the title character. Peter Jackson is also on board as a producer.
At present, Serkis is the only confirmed cast member, with fans left wondering whether the likes of Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen will reprise their respective roles as Gandalf and Aragorn. Mortensen has reportedly discussed the project with writer Philippa Boyens, with Aragorn playing a crucial role in the prequel. “Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively and we are at a very early stage,” Boyens revealed. “I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy [Serkis] has spoken to him, Peter [Jackson] has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum was initially set for release in 2026, but has since been moved to a year later, landing in theaters on December 17, 2027.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
