The advent of a new film based on JRR Tolkien's literary work "The Lord of the Rings" can only be considered, inevitably, a phenomenon of enormous proportions. With the announcement last May of "The Hunt For Gollum", which in addition to boasting the return of Andy Serkis in the role of the disturbing hobbit will see him assigned the role of director, the father of the film series Peter Jackson promptly intervened to reassure fans, trusting in the complexity and richness of the character to create a title worthy of its predecessors: "The character of Gollum/Sméagol has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, while the side of Sméagol is, probably, quite sympathetic. I think it connects with readers and viewers because there is a bit of both in all of us".
With the desire to delve deeper into Gollum's story, clarifying his past and what remains unknown, the film will also see the return of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to the screenplay, after having collaborated on the trilogies of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". The decision to return to the franchise comes from the potential that the protagonist offers, in addition to the choice to entrust the direction to Serkis. Boyens states in this sense: "There is no one else you can think of who knows what that character requires and we know what he offers to Gollum and the entire world of Middle Earth. Andy will have a really interesting approach to the story and it will be his, because we do not want him to make this film only as if it were the fourth chapter of the trilogy". While waiting for more substantial details on the plot, the fanbase is clamoring for the necessary reassurances on the cast.
When asked about the possibility that the actors from the previous films could return, Serkis did not want to rule out this possibility: "We are still in the early stages, we are writing the script, so we do not yet know who we will meet along the way. So, I would not want to say anything that would tie our hands at this point, because we still have to decide everything". Among the possible returns, there has obviously been talk of Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in the original trilogy. During the promotion of his latest film "The Dead Don't Hurt", the star said that he would be happy to reappear in the franchise, but that can only happen under one condition: "I don't know exactly what the story is, I don't know it, maybe I will hear about it eventually. I like playing that character, I learned a lot from playing him and I had a lot of fun. I would only do it if I was suitable in terms of age and so on, and only if I was suitable for the character. It would be stupid to do it otherwise".
Meanwhile, the latest news reported by Deadline is that Ian McKellen, unforgettable in the role of Gandalf, has been contacted by Warner Bros to reprise his role as the character. On his engagement, the maestro gave the following statements to The Big Issue: “The excitement for The Lord of the Rings shows no signs of dying down... I can't tell you anything else. They just said there will be more films and that Gandalf will be involved and they hope I play him. When? I don't know. What's the script? It hasn't been written yet. So they better hurry up.” And last but not least, actor Orlando Bloom confirmed to Variety that he will once again play Legolas in the new film. Reflecting on his gratitude towards Jackson for the emotions he experienced on set in the past, he said: “If Peter Jackson said, 'Jump,' I would say, 'How high?' He started my whole career.” On the potential offered by AI and the need to rejuvenate actors with modern computer graphics, Bloom expressed some hesitation: “I’m torn on this issue, especially because I’m not entirely sure that rejuvenation technology has evolved enough since Scorsese’s The Irishman, which is one of the main examples that most people point to when talking about the rejuvenation process in movies.”
