For the first time in over 20 years, a new live-action Lord of the Rings movie is headed to theaters — and a cast of returning LOTR veterans will be joined by none other than Kate Winslet.
Winslet will reportedly play the female lead of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will be directed by Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, and is produced by Peter Jackson, the filmmaker behind the original Lord of the Rings film trilogy, as well as The Hobbit prequels.
According to Deadline, “Serkis and Peter Jackson spent most of last year coaxing Winslet to appear in the film, which means uprooting to New Zealand to shoot her scenes in the film from late May through to October.” Winslet’s history with Jackson goes all the way back to 1994, when Winslet starred in Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures.
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They have no details on the character Winslet will play in the film, but they note that in addition to Serkis, both Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen will reprise their Lord of the Rings roles, as Frodo and Gandalf, respectively.
The Hunt for Gollum was first announced by Warner Bros. in the spring of 2024, following the acquisition of the Lord of the Rings rights by Embracer Group, and a new deal between them and Warner Bros. The specifics of the plot remain unclear, although the title gives at least a little clarity about what’s going on. The film is not connected to Amazon’s ongoing live-action Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power, which is actually a prequel set centuries before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth novels. The show’s third season was filmed in late 2025.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is scheduled to open in theaters on December 17, 2027. That’s not that far off when you think about it!
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