Elijah Wood doesn’t want to let anyone else play Frodo in his place
“As long as I’m alive and able to act, no other actor will play Frodo.”
The legendary film series, adapted from the eponymous literary saga by JRR Tolkien, is back for a highly anticipated fourth opus.
23 years later, the franchise created by Peter Jackson returns with The Hunt for Gollum but…without Peter Jackson. It is Andy Serkis who hides under the guise of the character of Gollum who will be at the head of the project, both behind and in front of the camera. No wonder then that the emblematic creature is at the center of the story. In the pages of the magazine EmpireSerkis expressed his enthusiasm, the filmmaker looks like a “immense privilege to revisit a character who never really left”.
In May 2024, Warner announced the film and gave it a date: The Hunt for Gollum was to be available for 2026, before postponing it to December 2027.
If Andy Serkis is therefore officially in the casting of this sequel, this is perhaps not the case of the interpreter of Frodo, Elijah Wood.
In the British newspaper, The Sunday Timesthe latter says today that it will be with him or nothing:
“I certainly won’t let another actor play Frodo, as long as I’m alive and able to film.”
That’s what it says! Elijah Wood, however, suggests that he will be there:
“I’m not allowed to talk about it until it’s announced, but I will say that I’m very excited about the prospect of another film.””
It was the actor Ian Mckellen, aka Gandalf who spilled the beans in the summer: “It hasn’t been officially announced, but at a convention last August, Ian sort of blurted out the casting“.
On the other hand, the franchise continues without… Viggo Mortensen.
Leo Woodall (The White Lotus), will replace the actor and put himself in the shoes of Aragorn, a crucial character in the new opus. The Hunt for Gollum takes place during the first part of The Fellowship of the Ringbefore Frodo leaves the Shire: Gandalf the magician sends Aragorn to track down Gollum in order to prevent the creature from reaching Sauron.
Elijah Wood revealed to ScreenRant in January that screenwriter Philippa Boyens would co-write and produce the film: “It seems to me that Philippa co-wrote and produced the film. Pretty much the entire original crew from the film is back (…)” . The screenwriter also provided some details about the plot of the film: The Hunt for Gollum is “a fairly intense story” which “ begins after Bilbo’s birthday party and before Middle Earth. This is a specific part of the story never told, through the perspective of this incredible creature.”
In the meantime, last Thursday we learned that Peter Jackson will receive the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Of Bad Taste has Lovely Bonesthe 64-year-old New Zealand director has marked the history of cinema, but it is the series of Lord of the Rings which earned him worldwide recognition.
The Hunt for Gollum will be released in theaters on December 17, 2027 in the United States.
Peter Jackson will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the opening of Cannes 2026
