Kate Winslet Headed to Middle-earth in Andy Serkis’ “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum”

Kate Winslet, the seven-time Oscar nominee (and winner in 2009 for The Reader), has left Pandora and is headed for Middle-earth. Winslet is currently in talks to join Andy Serkis’ The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is scheduled to start production in New Zealand later this year. She has plenty of experience in the country—she portrayed Ronal in James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water and, most recently, Avatar: Fire and Ash. 

We don’t yet know who Winslet will play. Serkis is directing and reprising the role of Gollum, one of the key figures in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, both of which were sumptuously adapted by Peter Jackson. Serkis, one of the pioneers of the motion-capture system that allowed him to become Gollum in Jackson’s films, will direct a film set between the two trilogies and is centered on Aragorn (played in The Lord of the Rings by Viggo Mortensen) and Gandalf (played in all six films by Ian McKellen, who is returning) searching for Gollum to learn more about Bilbo Baggins’ ring, which turns out to be the One Ring sought by the evil wizard Sauron that will spell doom for all of Middle-earth.

The film is based on material from the Appendices of “The Lord of the Rings,” and 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. The script is by Phoebe Gittins, Boyens, Arty Papageorgiou, and Fran Walsh. Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have set a release date of December 17, 2027.

Ian McKellen isn’t the only Lord of the Rings veteran returning—Elijah Wood has hinted that he’ll return as Frodo Baggins.

“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 in May of 2024. “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!”

Featured image: Kate Winslet in “The Regime.” Photograph by Miya Mizuno/HBO