Key Takeaways:
– Warner Bros. has announced a new, Peter Jackson-produced Lord of the Rings spin-off film with Andy Serkis as director
– The film, tentatively titled ‘The Hunt for Gollum’, will not intersect with Amazon’s ‘The Rings of Power’ series
– In a coinciding move, a popular fan film also titled ‘The Hunt for Gollum’, previously existing on YouTube, was been taken down by Warner Bros.
– The removed fan film, directed by Chris Bouchard, had accumulated over 13 million views over 15 years
– Assumptions are made that the new Warner Bros. film will focus primarily on Gollum, possibly featuring similarities with the pulled fan film
Peter Jackson Returns to Middle-earth
Warner Bros. is set to revisit the realm of Middle-earth, with Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson back on board. Known for transforming J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy into a high-grossing film series in the early 2000s, Jackson is returning to produce a spin-off film tentatively titled ‘The Hunt for Gollum.’ Andy Serkis, who infamously brought Gollum to life with a game-changing motion-capture performance, is slated to direct.
An Unambiguous Culling of Fan Film
Simultaneously, Warner Bros. stirred controversy by removing a fan film bearing the same title from YouTube. The fan film, directed by Chris Bouchard and available on YouTube for the last decade and a half, enjoyed immense popularity. With 13 million views to its credit, the 39-minute film filled in gaps from Jackson’s initial trilogy and was renowned among Lord of the Rings enthusiasts.
Fan Film vs Corporate Production
Bouchard’s ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ was a non-profit endeavor, created for the sole enjoyment of the director and fellow Tolkien fans. However, it’s theorized that its concept bore significant similarities to the story Jackson and his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are developing, prompting copyright infringement concerns to Warner Bros.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bouchard’s short film portrayed Gandalf’s quest to find out more about Frodo’s magic ring during ‘The Fellowship of the Ring.’ Adventurous sagas ensue as Aragorn is tasked to hunt for Gollum, involving encounters with orcs and Ringwraiths and a subsequent interrogation of Gollum by Gandalf.
New Movie Likely Centered Around Gollum
While the storyline of the forthcoming Warner Bros. movie remains under wraps, it is predicted that the film will center around Gollum, given Serkis’ involvement. Serkis was lauded for his groundbreaking portrayal of the character in the original trilogy and is thus likely to return to the role in his directorial endeavor.
Stirring Anticipation with a Hint of Controversy
Bringing back Jackson and Serkis for an independent venture simultaneous to Amazon’s ‘The Rings of Power’ series, Warner Bros. has sure made an intriguing move in expanding the cinematic realm of Middle-earth. But their recently-contested action towards an existing, popular fan film bearing the same name has sparked a conversation in the fan base.
It remains to be seen whether the new film can live up to the exceptional fan love that its namesake fan film had garnered over the years. Perhaps more importantly, it will be intriguing to see how Jackson and Serkis interpreted the lore of the beloved character, Gollum, in their new cinematic venture.
