Elijah Wood, arguably best known for playing the Hobbit, Frodo in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently had nothing but good things to say about the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum movie. “I’m excited,” Wood told Inverse about the new film that will star Andy Serkis as the titular Gollum. Serkis is also directing the film.

“I’m obviously a fan of the creative team,” Wood continued. “I’m invested because it is the same creative team behind Lord of the Rings.”

The new film, expected sometime in 2026, is being produced by Peter Jackson, of the original Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy movies. Jackson’s partners on the previous movies, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, are also producing.

Elijah Wood Says of Andy Serkis: “There’s No Better Person”

“It’s revisiting that character (Gollum), giving Andy a movie to direct…There’s no better person to shepherd that particular movie than the person who really created that character through and through,” Wood said. “It just feels like getting the band back together in a really cool way for a really unique piece,” he added.

Wood says he also has faith in Jackson and is excited to see what comes next as far as feature films. “I think the idea of there being more films in that universe is only exciting if it’s being shepherded by Pete, Fran, and Philippa and the rest of their creative universe in New Zealand,” Wood said. He also acknowledged that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Amazon series, which is filmed in the United Kingdom, is “its own thing.”

The actor said he’s also looking forward to what is to come in the future of the franchise. “Apparently, there’s going to be another couple of movies all telling new stories within that universe, adjacent to The Lord of the Rings.Honestly, there’s so many different stories they could tell, so I’m excited to see what comes of it.”

Boynes recently confirmed that The Hunt for Gollum will not be divided into two movies. However, she did say a separate film in the Lord of the Rings universe is being developed. “I can tell you definitively it isn’t two films!” Boyens said. She added that there was a “genuine misunderstanding that happened because we’ve begun to work, conceptually, on two different live-action films.”

The first of those films is The Hunt for Gollum. The second one is yet to be confirmed, Boyens said. Of The Hunt for Gollum, Boyens said the story is “intense” and falls on the birthday party of Bilbo Baggins and before the Mines of Moria that will be told through the eyes of Serkis’ Gollum.

Some LOTR Actors May Reprise Their Roles

Other franchise actors said they would enjoy hanging out in Middle-earth again for The Hunt for Gollum. Both Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas in both trilogies, and Aragorn actor Viggo Mortensen are interested in returning to the Lord of the Rings universe. However, Hugo Weaving said he was unlikely to return to reprise the role of Elrond which he portrayed in six films.

The Hunt for Gollum is listed as being in pre-production on IMDb. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies are currently available to stream on Prime Video and Max.

Source: Inverse