The recently announced Lord of the Rings Gollum movie will cover parts of the titular former hobbit’s backstory that the filmmakers didn’t have time to delve into in the original trilogy.
Speaking to Deadline, Peter Jackson, director of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and producer on the Gollum adapt, said the upcoming movie will give fans a look at Sméagol’s backstory and other parts of his story that the filmmakers only now have the time to explore.
“The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic,” Jackson said. “I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us. We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien.”
Gollum, whose real name is Sméagol, was a Stoorish Hobbit who murdered his relative Déagol in order to get his hands on the One Ring, after which his obsession slowly transformed him into the gangly snake of a creature we hate to love in The Lord of the Rings.
Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav announced in a recent earnings call that the Gollum movie will kickstart a whole new batch of live-action Lord of the Rings movies when it releases in 2026.
Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is reprising the role for The Hunt for Gollum (working title) and is also directing the pic. It’ll be the first major live-action movie set in-universe since 2014’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Catch up with our guide on how to watch The Lord of the Rings movies in order and our breakdown of The Lord of the Rings timeline. And here’s the lowdown on The Rings of Power season 2.