In a recent interview with Collider‘s Steve Weintraub for his new animated Animal Farm adaptation, Serkis officially confirmed that casting announcements are coming very soon. While Mortensen‘s former co-stars Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood are likely to return, it sounds like they won’t be joined by the actor who portrayed the future King of Gondor. “Yes, well, it’s top secret, obviously, but there will be an announcement coming fairly soon, I imagine. There will be an announcement at some point.” No official announcement has been made at the time of writing, but Wood recently suggested The White Lotus alum Leo Woodall is up for the role in a new episode of Josh Horowitz‘s Happy Sad Confused podcast.

Serkis has also made it clear that the movie itself is moving fast. In another interview, when asked where things stand on the new Lord of the Rings film, he said, “Very briefly, we are not far off shooting. We’re getting close. It’s getting very close, and it’s very exciting. We’ve got a great team.”

When Does Filming Start for ‘The Hunt for Gollum’?

This wasn’t the only update Serkis dropped on the Aragorn casting situation. Speaking in a recent interview with ScreenRant’s Liam Crowley for Animal Farm, Serkis addressed the ongoing talk about Aragorn’s role in the film and confirmed that the character is being recast. “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,” said Serkis.

That’s about as clear as it gets. As much as fans may have hoped Mortensen would step back into the role, The Hunt for Gollum is officially moving in a different direction. Serkis doesn’t tease who the new Aragorn could be, and he doesn’t go into detail about how large the part will be, but the biggest takeaway is obvious, and that is — the film is looking for a new actor.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum arrives in theatres on December 17, 2027.

via Collider