{"id":525176,"date":"2026-03-09T19:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/525176\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:42:09","slug":"elijah-wood-doesnt-want-anyone-else-playing-frodo-while-hes-still-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/525176\/","title":{"rendered":"Elijah Wood Doesn’t Want Anyone Else Playing Frodo While He’s Still Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

As franchises expand and endure, they all come to face the same issue of what happens when an iconic role is so thoroughly embodied by a character: the challenge of finding someone else to do it that\u2019ll be accepted by fans. Patrick Stewart and Charles Xavier, Harrison Ford and Han Solo, Ian McKellen and Gandalf (and Magneto, really, so especially good luck to Marvel\u2019s X-Men<\/a> going forward), there are plenty of examples. But one such example isn\u2019t letting you have the debate at all yet: Elijah Wood<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Wood\u2019s legendary performance as Frodo Baggins turning 25 this year with the anniversary of\u00a0Fellowship of the Ring\u2018s release, Wood is reflecting on his time with the character a lot lately\u2014especially as it\u2019s been all but confirmed<\/a> that he will reprise the role once more in some capacity in the upcoming prequel\/spinoff<\/a>\u00a0The Hunt for Gollum, marking the second time he\u2019s redonned the hobbit feet since Lord of the Rings came to an end with\u00a0Return of the King, having briefly cameoed in the Hobbit trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hasn\u2019t been officially announced, but at a convention last August, Ian [McKellen] sort of let the cat out of the bag,\u201d Wood recently told the Sunday Times<\/a> of his involvement in the new film. \u201cSo there is a good chance. I\u2019m not able to officially say anything until it\u2019s announced, but I will say I\u2019m thrilled with the prospect of another film. It\u2019s always a little nerve-racking when people talk about new movies for a world like Middle-earth. Everyone gets a little protective and hopes it retains its level of integrity, but this story is fun, thrilling. There is a genuine feeling of getting the band back together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood himself, it turns out, is one of those people who gets protective\u2014because he wants to be a hobbit for as long as he can. \u201cI certainly wouldn\u2019t want anybody else to play Frodo either as long as I\u2019m alive and able. And I can also recognize what fun that is going to be\u2014when you are in the cinema and you see the hat turn around and it\u2019s [McKellen as] Gandalf. Because I\u2019m also a fan, and excited to see how it all comes together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hunt for Gollum may have Wood and McKellen on board, but it\u2019s already going to face the challenge of recasting an icon: there\u2019s plenty of rumors swirling around that, after initial hopes<\/a>, Viggo Mortensen will not return for the film as Aragorn, necessitating a recast. Time will tell just how well that\u2019s received if it\u2019s true (no doubt we\u2019ll find out soon, given\u00a0Hunt is currently expected to release<\/a> at the end of 2027), but, at least if Wood himself has anything to say about it, we\u2019ll see at least one familiar face whenever we return to the Shire for the foreseeable future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As franchises expand and endure, they all come to face the same issue of what happens when an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,59798,75,35112,337,168423],"class_list":["post-525176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-elijah-wood","tag-entertainment","tag-lord-of-the-rings","tag-movies","tag-the-hunt-for-gollum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=525176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/525176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=525176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=525176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=525176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}