WB's New Lord Of The Rings Movie Just Retconned A Controversial Peter Jackson Book Change
Summary
- New LOTR film, The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis, raises questions about continuity with Peter Jackson’s trilogy.
- The Rings of Power returns for second season late 2024, the War of the Rohirrim film out December 13 – LOTR fans have much to look forward to!
- Hunt for Gollum retcons LOTR timeline, delving into Aragorn’s mission to capture Gollum during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.
A brand new Lord of the Rings film, titled The Hunt for Gollum, has been announced by Warner Bros., raising questions about continuity with the Peter Jackson trilogy. After a hiatus from the franchise, audiences will have a second season of The Rings of Power in late 2024, an animated film titled War of the Rohirrim, and now, a slate of new Lord of the Rings live-action movies developed by Warner Bros. The new film is expected to be released in 2026 and will see Andy Serkis directing, as well as returning to the iconic role of Gollum.
The Rings of Power
returns for season 2 in late 2024 and
The War of the Rohirrim
will be released in theaters on December 13.
New Lord of the Rings movies are cause for speculation, as the previous Hobbit movies were far more divisive. Not to mention, the reactions to The Rings of Power were mixed after the first season. The Lord of the Rings trilogy movies are considered some of the most beloved novel adaptations ever, faithfully bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s world to the big screen, and they’ve set a gold standard for any new movies to live up to. However, Peter Jackson will be heavily involved in The Hunt for Gollum’s development, showing some promise.
The Hunt For Gollum Takes Place During The Fellowship Of The Ring (But Peter Jackson’s Movies Skipped Over It)
Gandalf Sent Aragorn To Capture Gollum During The Events Of Fellowship
As much as Peter Jackson’s are stellar adaptations, they’re not entirely accurate and make some distinct changes to the Lord of the Rings chronology. One of the most well-known differences between the books and the films is the duration of time before Frodo embarks on his quest in The Fellowship of the Ring. In the book, 17 years occur between Frodo receiving the ring from Bilbo and him leaving for Rivendell. In the movies, it’s portrayed as a far shorter period of time. However, The Hunt for Gollum will take place during that time, retconning the timeline change.
The story of
The Hunt for Gollum
is from the Appendices of
The Return of the King.
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings skims over Gandalf’s experience during those 17 years, altogether leaving out the fact that he sent Aragorn to capture Gollum for information, hence the plot of the upcoming movie. While the duration isn’t specified in The Fellowship of the Ring movie, retroactively inserting an entire movie’s worth of events into that period could be clunky. Still, this would be a better choice than marketing the film as a prequel.
Why The Hunt For Gollum Shouldn’t Be A Prequel
Making The Hunt For Gollum A LOTR Prequel Would Contradict Gandalf’s Story In Fellowship
Calling The Hunt for Gollum a prequel seems much more straightforward, particularly from a marketing standpoint, than saying, “It happens sometime during The Fellowship of the Ring.” However, referring to the movie as a prequel creates an even bigger issue with Fellowship’s story, as it would imply that Gandalf already knew about the One Ring at the start of the movie. Either way they choose to portray the timeline, it contradicts one aspect of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings adaptation.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
- Created by
- J.R.R. Tolkien
