Elijah Wood Teases Return to Middle-earth as New Lord of the Rings Movies Loom After The Hunt for Gollum

Well, it looks like Middle-earth is about to get even busier. Elijah Wood—yeah, Frodo himself—recently dropped some news that should get Lord of the Rings fans buzzing. Spoiler: There are possibly more movies on the horizon, not just the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum.

What's Going On With The Hunt for Gollum?

So, the next stop for the Peter Jackson-era LotR gang is The Hunt for Gollum, which is aiming to fill in some of the before-Fellowship gaps. Basically, the story is likely to follow Gandalf and Aragorn as they try to track down Gollum (after Bilbo passes the Ring to Frodo, but before things kick off with the classic fellowship lineup). If you get your Tolkien lore from the appendices, this is that 'everyone is after Gollum, but can't actually find him' period.

The Return of (Most) of the Old Crew

Here’s the first eyebrow-raiser: a ton of the original creative folks are getting back together for this one. Wood pointed out that the vibe is pretty much 'reunion tour'—you've got Philippa Boyens (one of the OG trilogy's screenwriters) back co-writing and producing, and Andy Serkis—aka Gollum himself—is actually stepping behind the camera as director. If you’ve ever thought, 'Who understands Gollum better than Andy Serkis?'—well, apparently nobody.

So, Is Elijah Wood In or Out?

Here's where things get a bit coy. During a Fan Expo New Orleans panel, when asked about making a comeback, Wood pulled his best wizard impression and dodged confirming or denying anything. In his words (and you have to picture Wood smiling cryptically here):

'I can neither confirm nor deny. Listen, a wizard is to be trusted. Aside from any of that, I'm not really allowed to confirm. I'm really excited about the film. I think it really is a creative "getting the band back together." A lot of the creative heads of department are back and in that space again. Philippa [Boyens] I think, is co-writing it and producing it. It's very much that core original group getting back together to tell this story that will feel like a really fun exploration of this character that we all love so much. And I'm just really excited.'

Oh, and a little extra hype for Serkis: 'I'm excited for Andy [Serkis] to direct it. It feels so unbelievably appropriate that he directs a film about his character that he has really made his own. I'm thrilled. It'll be great.'

More Middle-earth Movies?

Here’s the most interesting part: Wood outright stated that there are plans cooking for even more films set in this universe. There’s nothing official announced yet, but it's clear the studio (and the creative team) are thinking about how to keep cashing in on Tolkien's world post-Hobbit, post-Fellowship.

• No exact details or titles for future movies yet
• Ian McKellen has teased that both Gandalf and Frodo could show up in The Hunt for Gollum
• All this is totally separate from the Amazon Rings of Power show, which is off doing its own thing in Middle-earth's deep past (the Second Age, for the timeline sticklers)
• The Hunt for Gollum is officially slated to hit theaters December 17, 2027

What Now?

While we wait for the band to officially reassemble, and for some more concrete news to drop, you’ve got plenty of time to dust off the extended editions (again) or catch up on young Sauron’s exploits over on Rings of Power. But, let’s be honest—you’re probably already thinking about booking those 2027 December tickets to see what Serkis does with Gollum when he’s calling the shots.

Stay tuned. This hobbit hole just keeps going deeper.