The Middle Earth is about to expand again. In a surprising reveal during today’s investor call, Warner Bros. executives decided to announce the release date of the highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum. Details of the project are kept under lock and key, but we do know that, as the title hints, it will center on the fan-favorite character played by Andy Serkis — who also directs the adventure — and takes place during a very specific section within The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The movie is set to premiere on December 17, 2027.
The announcement is aligned to Warner Bros.’ investment in its own IPs in order to see their revenue numbers rise again. This year, the production company is at a turning point in its history: it has a ten-year plan led by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy) to resuscitate the DC cinematic universe, starting with Superman this July. The Harry Potter series is moving at full speed, and now it looks like they want to bring another immensely strong IP to life. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum will be the first time that fans revisit the J.R.R. Tolkien live-action universe on the silver screen since 2014.
Last year, Warner Bros. distributed the anime movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which had a lackluster reception. The movie earned a 48% Rotten Tomatoes score, which suggested it was a less-than-enjoyable adventure. Fans, however, were all for it: they took the movie’s score up to 82%, which signals to Warner Bros. that they crave new stories from the book series they love so much. Not that they have to complain: aside from the anime movie, there’s the ongoing The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series — but it’s an Amazon property, which explains why Warner Bros. wants to do their own thing.
The Time Is Right For A ‘Lord of the Rings’ Comeback In Cinemas
It’s also a great time to bring back The Lord of the Rings in live-action format. Both trilogies were constant top performers when they premiered in cinemas, and now that blockbusters can routinely cross the mark of $1 billion at the global box office, it’s not unlikely that a Middle Earth adventure would be able to reach that number again — the franchise previously did it with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Additionally, fans have signaled to Warner Bros. that they will show up for epic adventures: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which is the lowest-rated entry in the film series, still managed to rake in over $960 million globally.
As any fan will tell you, there are still many stories that can be pulled from Tolkien‘s fantasy universe, so a new franchise wouldn’t lack source material. For now, however, we have to wait for official information from Warner Bros. in order to understand what will be the approach of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and its potential.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is set to premiere on December 17, 2027.
via Collider