Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s source material, The Lord of the Rings has become one of the biggest and most successful movie franchises in history. And next year, fans have a new installment to look forward to.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be a standalone feature set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogies. It’s been described as “a deep dive into the psychology and history of Gollum before he became Gollum,” with “a very burning question from Gandalf about what the potential origin of this ring that Bilbo Baggins has is.” The film is currently in production in New Zealand, and an all-star cast has been unveiled — which brings us to the backlash.
In case you missed it, everyone who’s been announced to be in the movie so far is white. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and Lee Pace will reprise their respective roles as Gandalf, Frodo, and Thranduil, while new cast members include Anya Taylor‑Joy, Kate Winslet, Jamie Dornan, and Leo Woodall.
The all-white cast has copped criticism. And now, the film’s director, Andy Serkis — who will also reprise his role as Gollum — has addressed the conversation.
Asked about the diversity debate during a recent interview with the BBC, Andy began by acknowledging the whiteness of the previous LOTR movies, saying, “Tolkien himself was influenced a lot by Norse mythology. There’s a lot of that feeling. The Shire feels very, very much like a very, a very white, you know… They’re not very concerned about what goes on beyond the borders of The Shire, but they know they don’t want people coming in.”
Directly addressing the “criticisms,” Andy went on to say that The Hunt for Gollum “is somewhat acknowledging that,” but won’t necessarily be incorporating any of the feedback. “I don’t think we will be doing a politically correct just-casting-for-the sake-of-casting-and-ticking-boxes version of the film. So, it’s where relevant basically,” he said.
As Andy indicated, pretty much all previous LOTR projects have faced criticism for a lack of diversity, except for The Rings of Power. Back in 2022, the Amazon Prime Video series faced backlash from racist fans upset by its diverse casting. The criticism was so widespread that the OG LOTR cast members, Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan, came together to support the inclusive casting. The show’s actors also released a joint statement condemning “the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis.”
More cast announcements for The Hunt for Gollum are expected ahead of the film’s release, so we’ll have to wait and see. You can find Andy’s full interview here.
