Titanic and Avatar: Fire and Ash star Kate Winslet is heading to Middle-earth. Per Deadline, Winslet has been cast in a lead role in Andy Serkis’ upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum prequel film.
Directed by Serkis and produced by the original trilogy’s director Peter Jackson, The Hunt for Gollum will take place between The Hobbit trilogy and The Fellowship of the Ring following “Aragorn’s perilous quest to capture Gollum before the creature can reveal the Ring’s location to Sauron.”
The script will be written by Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou and though it will be an original story, it will follow Tolkien’s extensive notes found in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings which detail the steps Gandalf and Aragorn took discovering the Ring’s history and tracking Gollum’s location after he left the Misty Mountains to find Bilbo Baggins.
Not much else about the film is known beyond those details, but as well as directing Serkis will once again reprise his iconic role as Gollum with Ian McKellen also returning as Gandalf the Grey. And though it has not been officially confirmed yet, both McKellen and Elijah Wood have indicated Wood is also returning as Frodo Baggins, Bilbo’s nephew and the Ringbearer during Gandalf and Aragorn’s hunt for Gollum.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum doesn’t just mark a return to Middle-earth for Serkis, Jackson, McKellen and Wood, but also a reunion for Winslet and Jackson after she starred in Jackson’s 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. Filmed in New Zealand, Heavenly Creatures is considered to be Winslet’s breakout role and The Hunt for Gollum will be the first time she and Jackson have worked together in over 30 years.
Production will take place in New Zealand, the home for Middle-earth for both the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, for a release date of December 17th, 2027.
