Lord of the Rings’ Original Hobbits Address Returning For New Middle-earth Movies

The Lord of the Rings is still one of the biggest cinematic milestones of the 21st century, and it’s about to enter a whole new era of storytelling. The movie franchise is going to continue The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, a 2027 film that will be directed by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the original film trilogy. The Hunt for Gollum will bring back Sir Ian McKellen as the wizard Gandalf, and there have been rumblings and clues that it could feature other characters (and actors) from LotR making a return.

The most obvious candidates for a spinoff story about Gollum and Gandalf would be the Hobbits. Gandalf is known to keep close company with those Shire folk, and depending on how The Hunt for Gollum frames its story, there are any number of Hobbit characters that would be part of the story. Rumors have been circulating for months that at least one major Hobbit character could be in the movie. Now we’re hearing some of the Hobbit actors speak up, letting it be known whether or not they would even be open to returning to Lord of the Rings, and which projects they may have in mind.

Lord of the Rings‘ Hobbit Actors Discuss Their Future in the Franchise

Empire Magazine was able to pull some of The Lord of the Rings trilogy actors together for a reunion interview, including Ian McKellen, and Hobbit actors Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck), Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Billy Boyd (Peregrin “Pippin” Took) and Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee).

Elijah Wood ran with something McKellen had said, namely that filming The Lord of the Rings projects in New Zealand was more like a welcome vacation than a gig: “You know, similar to Ian, I also want to go back to New Zealand,” Wood explained. “I would love to see those people again and play in that sandbox more. Just to see old friends.” The actor has been coy, but has hinted in past interviews that he could be having talks about Hunt for Gollum and/or future projects.

Boyd was just as enthusiastic, telling Mckellen “We’ll come if you want, Ian!” With Sean Astin jokingly adding, “Sam will carry your bag.”

When asked if they would like to “reteam” for a future Lord of the Rings project after The Hunt for Gollum, the actors were game. One project that is staring the franchise in the face is the infamous penultimate chapter of J.R. R. Tolkien’s story, “The Scouring of The Shire”. It chronicles the Hobbits returning home after destroying the One Ring, only to find The Shire under the grip of evildoers. Astin didn’t hold back about finally getting “The Scouring of the Shire” on film, saying, “I’d like that very much. I think that would be cool!”

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3 Lord of the Rings Movies We Want To See More Than the Hunt for Gollum

It’s been very clear that Warner Bros. intends to get more out of The Lord of the Rings IP than the original trilogy and the less successful trilogy of Hobbit prequel films. That said, the franchise also has a TV wing at Amazon-MGM (The Rings of Power prequel series), and standalone films that fill in story gaps didn’t exactly work out well for a franchise like Star Wars. The key difference is that The Lord of the Rings still has the prime connection of having its original stars still around and able to reclaim the roles. That creates a throughline that will be a legitimate draw to millions of fans around the world, who wouldn’t mind one or two more adventures with this cast before the “inevitable” time when they won’t be able to anymore, as McKellen solemnly alluded to.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is in production and set for release on December 17, 2027. Let us know what you think about the film over on the ComicBook Forum!