The Hunt for Gollum is nearing the end of filming. Speaking to fans at the Sitges festival on October 11, 2026, Peter Jackson indicated, by his estimate, there are about two weeks of shooting left. The filmmaker is producing this new Middle-earth feature, directed by Andy Serkis, and it is slated to hit French theatres on December 15, 2027.
New details shed light on the project's progress since it was greenlit by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures. Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, is now stepping in as a producer. Serkis is handling both directing duties and his return as Gollum, a role he portrayed via motion capture in the previous adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's works.
The film also brings back two other faces from the original trilogy: Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo. Wood described returning to New Zealand as reuniting with the crew, noting in an interview with GamesRadar+ that his involvement would be fairly brief. The reappearance of these characters complements a storyline centered on the pursuit of Gollum and the information he holds about the Ring.
At Sitges, Jackson also drew a distinction between this filming and the other Middle-earth project, The Shadow of the Past, which remains at the writing stage. The two films are therefore at different points in production. The director's comments were published by Fotogramas on October 13 and later picked up by several international outlets.
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