On Thursday, Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announced that Oscar winner Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings collaborators Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and actor-director Andy Serkis are headed back to Middle-earth with two new films.
The tentatively titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be the first of two new movies based off of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic characters, with Serkis not only reprising as the One Ring-obsessed title character, but also directing the film.
Walsh and Boyens, who co-wrote and produced the original films in the $6 billion franchise, are writing the new installment, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, who penned the upcoming anime prequel epic Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
Jackson, Walsh and Boyens said in a statement, “It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker – Gollum!”
The trio added, “As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with [New Line Cinema heads] Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”
For his part, Serkis added — in character, no less — “Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle-Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa,” calling the new collaboration “just all too delicious.”
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