The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum screenwriter Philippa Boyens has confirmed that the film will not be a two-parter, but two films are on the way.
When it was announced back in May that not only were more Lord of the Rings films coming, people were a little hesitant. The second season of The Rings of Power hadn't been released on Amazon yet, and while that first season did well, it wasn't exactly beloved. There was also the lingering sour taste in everyone's mouth regarding The Hobbit adaptation and how cynical the entire thing felt because that book did not need to be three films, and it was obvious the only reason it became a trilogy was that someone wanted it to be. We also hadn't seen anything from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the animated film, at the time either. However, it's now mid-October, and things are very different. The second season of The Rings of Power was better received, and The War of the Rohirrim looks pretty awesome. People were getting nervous again when Sir Ian McKellen seemed to confirm that the two films that were announced back in May were parts one and two of The Hunt For Gollum. It turns out that is not the case. Philippa Boyens, who is involved in many aspects of Tolkien films, including writing, did an interview with Empire and confirmed that there was some miscommunication involved.
"I can tell you definitively it isn't two films!" she says. "That was a genuine misunderstanding that happened because we've begun to work, conceptually, on two different live-action films. The first being The Hunt For Gollum, the second one still to be confirmed."
The issue came from the fact that McKellen could be returning for both films; Boyens explained, "We're playing around with a number of ideas, but most of those ideas do include Gandalf. So Gandalf would potentially return for two live-action films." That makes sense and it's also good to hear that they are not splitting films already. We don't need to go down that road yet again. If there is one thing we need to leave in the early 2000s is needlessly drawn out stories so you can get two films. The story for The Hunt for Gollum is something we only know some details about, and Boyens was able to give us the timeline for when this movie will be taking place within the larger Lord of the Rings story.
"It's quite an intense story, which falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria," Boyens explained. "It's a specific chunk of incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature."
As for The War of the Rohirrim, it sounds like they are quite happy with the idea of exploring Middle Earth via the medium of animation. Much like anything else, if we want to see more animated Lord of the Rings films, we'll have to go out and support the one coming out in December. Boyens confirmed that should audiences connect with the film and a sequel is greenlit, "We have an absolute banger of a second film that would just be incredible as an anime. But let's see if there's an appetite for it." The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will be released in theaters on December 13, 2024, and The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be released sometime in 2026.