Lord Of The Rings Star Ian McKellen Was Told The Hunt For Gollum Will Be 2 Movies

Ian McKellen has been told that The Lord of the Rings‘ upcoming story, The Hunt for Gollum, will be two movies. The legendary actor previously shared that he had been approached to reprise his role as Gandalf for the project directed by Andy Serkis. The Hunt for Gollum was previously confirmed for a 2026 release and, in addition to Serkis directing, is expected to see him reprising his role as the titular character while being hunted before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.

In an interview with This Morning, McKellen shared that he has been informed that The Hunt for Gollum will be split into two movies, although he has not read a script yet and does not know any details about its production.

Given the highly secretive nature of popular franchise projects, McKellen noted that he is unsure if he has permission to share this information. Regardless, he emphasized that he does not know any other pertinent details, but would like to go back to New Zealand to film. Check out his comments below:

I’m told it’s two films. I probably shouldn’t be saying that, but I haven’t read the script, and I don’t know when it is, and I don’t even know where it’ll be filmed.

Does The Hunt For Gollum Need To Be Two Movies?

There Were Already Questions About It Being One Movie.

As thrilling as two more live-action Lord of the Rings movies featuring McKellen as Gandalf and Serkis as Gollum are, this development raises concerns about whether there is enough story to warrant two separate installments. In a line from The Fellowship of the Ring book, Aragorn shares with the Council of Rivendell that there was “little need to tell of” what he encountered while he was hunting Gollum. This line indicates that there may not be enough of a story to tell about the hunt for Gollum.

That concern is further amplified now that McKellen has been told that the story will take place throughout more than one movie. The Hobbit adaptations have already suffered from overextending the limited source material throughout its three films. The Hunt for Gollum does not have direct source material to adapt and is going to be a new story based on several details from the books, but even those notes may be needlessly overextended for two movies.

Compared to The Lord of the Rings or even the upcoming anime War of the Rohirrim story, the pursuit of Gollum does not seem like an important enough tale to carry its own movie, let alone two. More The Lord of the Rings movies should not be made simply because it is a popular intellectual property, but because there is a quality story to tell. With Peter Jackson as a producer, Serkis directing and likely starring, and McKellen back as well, hopefully, there is a truly great story to tell that merits two movies.

Source: This Morning