How Precious: “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” Will Hit Theaters in December 2027

Gollum is coming back to the big screen.

The iconic former Hobbit turned ring-lusting crucial figure in The Lord of the Rings films will be the star of his own movie, with Andy Serkis, the man who portrayed Gollum, returning to direct and star. Serkis’ The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will open in theatres on December 17, 2027. Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema revealed the release date, which boasts Oscar-winners Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens, the trio who brought The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies to the big screen, as producers on the film.

“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, Boyens, and Walsh said in a statement when the film was announced last May. “As lifelong fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with [WBD film chiefs] Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy, and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”

Serkis will star and direct the film, which is based on a script by Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiou. Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens are producing a second LOTR film, but no director has been named for that project yet.

Gollum isn’t the only one returning to theaters—New Line also announced that the Evil Dead franchise was getting a fresh installment after the success of Evil Dead Rise. Souheila Yacoub is set to star in the joint New Line/Sony Pictures project, which will get a summer release on July 24, 2026.

Finally, Warner Bros. announced that M. Night Shyamalan’s Remain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor, and Ashley Waters, will hit theaters on October 23, 2026. The original film is a co-creation between Shyamalan and novelist Nicholas Sparks. The intriguing set-up is that Shyamalan and Sparks are both penning a screenplay and a novel based on the same original love story. Sparks’s novel version, “Remain,” will come out on October 7, 2025.

Featured image: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 11: Actor Andy Serkis during C2E2 on the main stage for the “There and Back Again: A Lord of the Rings Cast Reunion” at McCormick Place on April 11, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/WireImage)