Andy Serkis to direct, star in 'Gollum' movie for 'Lord of the Rings'
MANILA, Philippines — A new "Lord of the Rings" movie based on the character Gollum is in development, with Andy Serkies set to reprise his role as the famous skulking character.
Apart from starring once more as Gollum, or Smeagol, Serkis has also been tapped to direct the film currently given the working title "Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum."
Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive Officer David Zaslav confirmed that the "Gollum" movie would be the first of three planned live-action projects in the "Lord of the Rings" franchise.
The executive also said the original trilogy's director, Peter Jackson, and his partners, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, are producing the film and "will be involved every step of the way."
Walsh and Boyens are already in the early stages of script development with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, who are the writers on the upcoming animated film "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim." The writers will "explore storylines yet to be told," he added.
"It is an honor 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!" Jackson, Walsh and Boyens said in a statement. "As life-long fans of Professor Tolkien's vast mythology, we are proud to be working on another epic adventure!"
Related: New 'Lord of the Rings' films announced by Warner Bros
Serkis' portion of the statement was in true Gollum fashion, "“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... it's just all too delicious..."
Jackson helmed the three "Lord of the Rings" movies released between 2001 and 2003, earning nearly $3 billion (P172 billion) at the box office and winning 17 Academy Awards from 30 nominations.
Eleven (11) of those wins were from the last entry, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which made history as it swept all its nominations.
A decade later, Jackson directed the prequel trilogy based on another Tolkien book, "The Hobbit," which centers around Bilbo Baggins.
After his stint as Gollum/Smeagol, Serkis became a huge figure in motion-capture acting by appearing in films like "King Kong" (a Jackson film), "The Adventures of Tintin," the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, the "Planet of the Apes" reboot trilogy, and "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle," which was also his second directorial feature.
Serkis has also starred in "The Batman," "Andor," "13 Going On 30," "The Prestige," "Inkheart," and played Ulysses Klaue in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
He also directed "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," and is set to helm an animated film adaptation of George Orwell's "Animal Farm."
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