Earlier this year came seismic news from Middle-earth: more Lord Of The Rings films are on the way from Warner Bros, with Peter Jackson and his team producing, and familiar faces expected to return in front of the camera too. Then quickly came the reveal that one such upcoming project is titled The Hunt For Gollum, set shortly before the main events of The Fellowship Of The Ring, and set to be directed by none other than Gollum himself: Andy Serkis. From there, all kinds of rumours and reports have spread – including the notion that The Hunt For Gollum will be split into two films, which originated from an interview with Gandalf actor, Sir Ian McKellen.

But as Lord Of The Rings screenwriter Philippa Boyens tells Empire, thing have got a little lost in (Elvish) translation. “I can tell you definitively it isn’t two films!” she says. “That was a genuine misunderstanding that happened because we’ve begun to work, conceptually, on two different live-action films. The first being The Hunt For Gollum, the second one still to be confirmed.” Even in just one film, Boyens promises a gripping tale to be told in Serkis’ feature. “It’s quite an intense story, which falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria,” she explains. “It’s a specific chunk of incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature.”

As for why McKellen might have thought The Hunt For Gollum would be a two-parter, there’s a good reason for that. “We’re playing around with a number of ideas, but most of those ideas do include Gandalf,” Boyens explains. “So Gandalf would potentially return for two live-action films.” Plus, if anime feature The War Of The Rohirrim – on which Boyens is writer-producer – proves to be a success this December, there could be more animated Middle-earth stories too. “We have an absolute banger of a second film that would just be incredible as an anime,” she teases. “But let’s see if there’s an appetite for it.” Who’s ready to go there and back again?

Read Empire’s full Philippa Boyens interview – talking The War Of The Rohirrim and the future of The Lord Of The Rings on the big screen – in the Mickey 17 issue, on sale Thursday 24 October. Pre-order a copy online here. The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim hits UK cinemas on 13 December.