One harsh reality about rewatching The Lord of the Rings is the fact that the movies were so good that it is going to be extremely hard for any follow-up project to beat them in terms of visuals, acting, and casting. The Hobbit trilogy is a perfect example of this, having made some drastic changes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original book by adding characters that took attention away from the core story, and then focusing more on CGI rather than the practical effects that made the Lord of the Rings movies feel so immersive.
Despite the prequel trilogy’s surprisingly high Rotten Tomatoes scores, they have made it difficult to watch all the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies in order as a marathon, as the difference in quality is so stark. On the small screen, The Rings of Power TV series is still finding its feet, and may need to win back viewers it lost after the mediocre first season. That said, if the third season makes major improvements on the same scale as the second, it may become the best of all the upcoming projects in the Lord of the Rings franchise.
In the trilogy’s first book, 1954’s The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo wonders aloud to Frodo, “Don’t adventures ever have an end? I suppose not. Someone else always has to carry on the story.” Of all the people to carry on the Lord of the Rings story, the team behind The Hunt for Gollum is impressive. Peter Jackson is returning as producer, while Andy Serkis is both directing the movie and reprising his multi-award-winning role as Gollum. The movie officially entered production last week and is expected to arrive onscreen in 2027.
With none of the released projects approaching the quality of Peter Jackson’s movies, many Tolkien fans may feel that the books should have been left alone after the groundbreaking adaptation. However, Bilbo’s line in the book shows that this may not have been an opinion shared by the writer himself. It is not clear if J.R.R. Tolkien would have loved The Lord of the Rings, but through Bilbo’s speech to Frodo, and then Frodo’s farewell to Sam, he makes it clear that the torch must always be passed if a story is to continue, for better or worse.
The Hunt For Gollum Vs. The Rings Of Power Is Fantasy’s Biggest Battle In Years
2026 and 2027 are set to be significant years for fantasy. With both the Harry Potter TV series and The Rings of Power season 3 underway by the end of 2026, and Greta Gerwig’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew and The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum expected to arrive in 2027, fantasy fans are going to see some of the biggest fantasy franchises competing for the top spot. That said, the battle between the two Lord of the Rings projects is projected to shake up the fantasy genre in a new way.
The Hunt for Gollum is based on a line from Aragorn in The Fellowship of the Ring book, and it is an original story rather than an adaptation.
In the spirit of Bilbo’s line in the book, both upcoming Lord of the Rings projects are original stories using characters and lore from Tolkien’s licensed works, rather than directly adapting another book, which would not have been possible, as only The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are available for adaptation. Amazon has kept The Rings of Power creatively distinct from the movies, and the show has been made by a different team. The TV show has taken some creative liberties, while it is thought that Serkis’ movie project will retain the tone of Peter Jackson’s movies.
This upcoming fantasy battle may decide the fate of The Lord of the Rings franchise, as viewers will recontextualize The Hobbit based on the success of The Hunt for Gollum. If the movie works, it highlights The Hobbit‘s failings even more, while if it is a failure, The Hobbit may look good by comparison. Factoring in The Rings of Power then grows more exciting, as it is possible that both projects will work, with both The Rings of Power and The Hunt for Gollum proving Tolkien right, and showing that an adventure story can continue in more than one direction.
- Release Date
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December 17, 2027
- Writers
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Arty Papageorgiou, Phoebe Gittins, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, J.R.R. Tolkien