Peter Jackson Returning to ‘Lord of the Rings’ with a New, Live-Action Movie, ‘The Hunt for Gollum,’ in 2026

Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and revered franchises in history and presents a significant opportunity for theatrical business.

-David Zaslov

The film, titled The Hunt for Gollum, will be produced by Jackson and directed by Andy Serkis, who brought the character to life in the original trilogy and will reprise the role. WB plans to have the film in theaters in 2026.

According to Zaslav, the new film will “explore storylines yet to be told.” The CEO shared that the film is “now in the early stages of script development” and that Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who helped craft the original trilogy, “will be involved every step of the way.” 

Jackson’s original trilogy grossed over $3B globally and remains a beloved translation of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Though the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit trilogy and Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power series have all delved into Tolkien’s Middle-earth works, there’s still plenty of work from the prolific author to tap into.

Source: Variety