This weekend we heard that a new ‘Lord of the Rings’ film is in the works at Warner Brothers. The announcement told that Peter Jackson and Andy Serkis are teaming up to bring the “The Hunt For Gollum” to the screens. One wonders how anyone can react to such an announcement with little more than a sigh. Warners have apparently been interested in making more Middle-Earth related projects — this year sees their animated movie ‘The War of the Rohirrim’ coming to screen — with intent, presumably, to turn Middle-Earth into a Star Wars-style franchise.
It feels exhausting. While Amazon have brought about a story set in the Second Age, with admittedly mixed results in its first season, focusing on a condensed version of the Rise & Fall of Numenor, the Forging of the Rings and the Wars with Sauron, it appears Warners, Jackson & Serkis have decided to violently scrape the bottom of the barrel dismissing more fruitful content like the Angmar Wars or the Gondorian Civil War to bring us two hours of Gandalf and Aragorn roaming around looking for Gollum in hopes of finding out if the ring Frodo currently has is the One.
Which we already know it is.
Riveting stuff. Aside from already existing for over a decade as a much-treasured fan film, it raises the question as to why even bother with this? A few paragraphs of backstory that were only…
