It is a small moment, but for viewers who first met this version of Gollum more than two decades ago, the emotional switch is instant. Apparently, some performances do not need much runway.
The New Zealand location has fans looking closely
The video also includes a drone shot from the production’s New Zealand mountain location. The clip does not reveal much about the plot, but the landscape has already set off the expected fan investigation unit.
One Lord of the Rings fan account, RRworkshopstudio, noted on YouTube that the location appears to be the same area used in The Two Towers opening sequence, where Frodo and Sam climb a rock face shortly before they encounter Gollum.
“For those who don’t know, this filming location is where Frodo & Sam are climbing up the rock face in Two Towers opening scene... right before they meet Gollum!” the fan wrote. “I wonder what they’ll show this time!”
The video ends by confirming the film’s release date: December 17, 2027. It also includes a hidden message written in Middle-earth runes. According to several fans who decoded it on social media, the message reads: “Something precious awaits.” Subtle? Not especially. Appropriate? Very much so.
Who is returning, and who is new to Middle-earth
The Hunt for Gollum brings Serkis back together with several familiar faces from the earlier films, while also adding major new cast members.
Returning cast members include:
- Andy Serkis as Gollum, while also directing the film
- Ian McKellen as Gandalf
- Elijah Wood as Frodo
- Lee Pace as Thranduil, the elven king he played in The Hobbit film trilogy
The new cast additions include:
- Jamie Dornan, known for Fifty Shades of Grey, taking over the role of Aragorn from Viggo Mortensen
- Anya Taylor-Joy, known for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, playing a new “lethal elf” named Seren
Taylor-Joy said earlier this week that she had not yet read The Lord of the Rings, though she planned to do so soon. Given the scale of the homework, soon is doing some heavy lifting.
Why AI de-aging is part of the conversation
Serkis also drew attention this week for discussing how the production will handle the age gap between the actors and the timeline of the story. Some returning characters need to look younger than they did in The Fellowship of the Ring, which was released 25 years ago.
“There’s a little bit of de-aging for some of the characters and machine learning is part of the process,” Serkis said.
That detail will probably interest viewers for more than technical reasons. De-aging in major franchise filmmaking can land anywhere from invisible to aggressively noticeable, and audiences tend to notice when beloved characters look more like software projects than people. The production is clearly trying to solve a difficult timeline problem while keeping the original performers connected to the roles.
Where the story fits in Tolkien’s timeline
The film focuses on the period when multiple characters are searching for Gollum in hopes of learning the location of the One Ring. That period appears only briefly in the prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring and is also covered briefly in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.
That gives the movie a specific challenge. It is not adapting one of Tolkien’s most fully dramatized sections, but rather expanding a narrow piece of lore that sits in the shadow of events viewers already know. The appeal is obvious, though: Gollum is not just a creature with a memorable voice. He is one of the saga’s central moral pressure points.
Peter Jackson, who directed the original The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has previously said he is giving Serkis room to lead the film while remaining available if needed.
“I’m leaving him to it,” Jackson said. “I’m there to help if I can help, if I can be of assistance at certain times, I’m there. But I’m giving him as much freedom as I can, because giving Andy freedom to make that movie will result in the best possible film.”
For a project built around a character defined by obsession, that vote of confidence matters. Serkis is not just returning to Middle-earth. He is being handed one of its strangest, saddest figures and asked to build a whole film around him.
