The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumis utilizing a worrisome strategy to attract fans of Peter Jackson’s trilogy, butit might be necessary after the lacklusterperformance ofThe War of the Rohirrim.Warner Bros. is proving its commitment to expanding itsLord of the Ringsfranchise, withWar of the Rohirrimbringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth back to the big screen for the first time sinceThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armiesdebuted in 2014. The studio’s next journey to Middle-earth is already planned, withThe Hunt for Gollumaiming to hit theatersin 2026.
The Hunt for Gollumwill be the first live-actionLord of the Ringsmoviein more than a decade, andit will be more closely connected to Jackson’s films thanWar of the Rohirrim.While the animated project seesMiranda Otto returning as Éowynto narrate the story, the movie’s plot is focused on an earlier conflict between the Hammerhands and the Dunlendings. By contrast, the nextLOTRfilm willreturn to the timeline ofThe Fellowship of the Ring. The upcoming project is making great efforts to capitalize on the success of the original trilogy, which may be necessary now.
The Hunt For Gollum’s Nostalgia Play Might Be Necessary After War Of The Rohirrim’s Failure
Associations With The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy Will Get People To Theaters
The Hunt for Gollumis pulling out all the stops to transport viewers back to the time period ofThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, with Warner Bros. even pursuing actors like Sir Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen to reprise their iconic roles. While Andy Serkis is the onlyLord of the Ringscast member currently confirmed to return,it’s clearThe Hunt for Gollumis hoping to capitalize on nostalgia to win audiences over. Serkis in the director’s seat and Jackson’s producer role further drive this reality home, making it clear that this film is an extension of Jackson’s trilogy.
Although it’d be nice to see more original stories set in Tolkien’s world, the nostalgia angle might be necessary to revive the studio’sThe Lord of the RingsIP.
AndThe Hunt for Gollumdoes raise concerns about whether this story is necessary to tell — or if it’s milking the popularity of prior movies for all it’s worth — but Warner Bros. might be onto something with this approach. Although it’d be nice to see more original stories set in Tolkien’s world, the nostalgia angle might be necessary to revitalize the studio’sLord of the RingsIP. After all,The War of the Rohirrim’s response doesn’t bode well for the future.
10 Reasons The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim’s Reviews Are So Mixed
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is receiving mixed reviews, with critics divided over its pacing, characters, animation, and story.
With its disappointing 45% critic score onRotten Tomatoes,The War of the Rohirrimproved a critical failure — and it didn’t fare much better at the box office. ThenewLOTRmovie hit record lows for Jackson’s movie franchise, only making $19 million worldwide (viaBox Office Mojo). While the animated format could be blamed for some of the film’s performance woes, the reception of Amazon’sRings of Powerpaints a bleaker picture.It’s possibleThe Hunt for Gollumwill need to capitalize on viewers' nostalgia for Jackson’s movies, as more original takes don’t seem to be landing.
The Lord Of The Rings Franchise Can’t Depend On Nostalgia After The Next Movie
Warner Bros. Needs To Move Past The LOTR & Hobbit Movies Eventually
IfThe Hunt for Gollummanages to get theLord of the Ringscast back for another movie, it might generate enough excitement to turn the franchise’s performance around afterThe War of the Rohirrim.It could also prove how effective nostalgia is at winning audiences over, thoughit’s hard to say how Warner Bros. would proceed from there. Even ifThe Hunt for Gollumfares better than 2024’sLord of the Ringsmovie, the franchise can’t utilize this same strategy forever.
2024’s New Lord Of The Rings Movie Changes How You’ll Watch The Two Towers From Now On
The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim changes how we watch The Two Towers, embellishing the movie with a fresh perspective on Rohan.
There are only so many stories that can be told using Jackson’sprior moviesas the framework — and evenThe Lord of the Rings:The Hunt for Gollumrequires some tweaking ofFellowship’s condensed timeline to make sense. If Warner Bros. is serious about expanding its IP, it will need to move beyondThe Lord of the RingsandTheHobbitmovies and into uncharted territories eventually. Hopefully,The War of the Rohirrimisn’t representative of how that will go.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
Cast
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is an upcoming fantasy adventure film that delves into the story of Gollum’s obsession with the One Ring.
