{"id":513487,"date":"2026-04-05T01:51:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513487\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T01:51:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T01:51:18","slug":"the-lord-of-the-rings-prequel-confirmed-to-recast-a-major-character-from-original-trilogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/513487\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord of the Rings prequel confirmed to recast a major character from original trilogy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Serkis has provided fans with a major update about the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Serkis, who will return to play Gollum and direct the film, confirmed that the role of Aragorn will be recast \u2013 with Viggo Mortensen not reprising his role.<\/p>\n

Addressing the cast speculation, Serkis told Screen Rant<\/a>: “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.”<\/p>\n

The Hunt for Gollum will be set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, focusing on a previously untold story, as teased by Serkis himself.<\/p>\n

The actor has been sure to keep details of the film under wraps, telling the publication: “We’ve got to keep it all back. I mean, look, other than, I think it’s probably common knowledge, but our film takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and it’s The Hunt for Gollum, and it is a physical hunt for the character, but also a psychological hunt for himself.<\/p>\n

“So we’re just about on the launchpad now, and it’s very exciting. And yeah, it’s going to be a big ride.”<\/p>\n

\"Viggo<\/p>\n

Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in Lord of the Rings.\u00a0New Line Cinema<\/p>\n

But Serkis did share that the creatives from the original trilogy have reunited to bring The Hunt for Gollum to life.<\/p>\n

“It’s been a tightrope for all,” he explained. “I mean, the entire Lord of the Rings team who worked on the originals are reassembled, for a start. So it is grounded in the lore and the world and the vision of Peter Jackson’s trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy.”<\/p>\n

Serkis continued: “So it will feel like a proper Middle-earth film, there’s no question, but there is a much more internal psychological investigation into one of Tolkien’s most complex characters, i.e. Gollum. So it’s a very interesting mix, and I think it is a tightrope for sure. A lot of the filmmaking techniques are ones that we are employing, which harken back to the first trilogy.<\/p>\n

“I think it’ll be a great marriage of a new story and an intimate story within the lore and world of Middle-earth that we all love. You’ve got to remember that for some people, this will be their first Middle-earth film. So that’s why it’s been such an interesting journey.”<\/p>\n

\"Elijah<\/p>\n

Elijah Wood as Frodo in Lord of the Rings.<\/p>\n

The only other details known about the upcoming movie is Kate Winlset will be joining the latest Middle-earth outing as the female lead<\/a>, though exact details of her role have not been disclosed.<\/p>\n

It has also been rumoured that the film could see the returns of Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins and Ian McKellen as Gandalf.<\/p>\n

Though neither actor has confirmed this to be the case, Wood recently told The Sunday Times<\/a> he “certainly wouldn\u2019t want anybody else to play Frodo as long as [he is] alive and able”.<\/p>\n

He said: “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.”<\/p>\n

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is coming to cinemas in December 2027.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Film<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Serkis has provided fans with a major update about the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-513487","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-movies","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}