star in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which is expected to take place during the events of Jackson's first Middle-earth adventure.

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema now reveal that The Hunt for Gollum will release in theaters on December 17, 2027. The announcement confirms that Serkis will direct and star in the film, with Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens producing. The Hunt for Gollum's script will hail from Walsh, Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiou. This new release date confirmation continues a franchise trend, with all previous live-action movies having also released in December. Additional reporting from THR states that this new film is one of two Lord of the Rings movies that Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens are overseeing.

This announcement accompanies confirmation that Warner Bros. has dated the new Evil Dead movie for July 24, 2026, and M. Night Shyamalan's Remain for October 23, 2026.

What This Means For The Hunt For Gollum

The Film's Anticipated Production Timeline Explained

It was originally reported that The Hunt for Gollum was going to arrive in December 2026. During a February appearance at Fan Expo Vancouver, per The Direct, Serkis confirmed that the film wasn't going to make this window, with December 2027 the new targeted window. The star revealed that the film was, at the time, "right at the beginning of the writing process," with prep set to start later in the year, and filming then set to get underway in 2026.

This new announcement from Warner Bros. fits with the timeline that Serkis provided, meaning there is still quite a long wait before any actual filming will be done on the movie. With a more secure timeline, though, cast announcements could follow in the coming months as details get nailed down. It remains unconfirmed, for example, whether original Lord of the Rings cast like Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), or Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) will be reprising their roles, but news may not be far off.

Our Take On The Hunt For Gollum's Release Date

The New Lord Of The Rings Movie Faces A Major Challenge

By the time The Hunt for Gollum releases in December 2027, it will have been 13 years since the last live-action Lord of the Rings movie was released, with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies hitting theaters in December 2014. Though a December release date certainly won't be essential to Serkis' film achieving success, the release decision speaks to the ways in which The Hunt for Gollum could attempt to recapture the glory of Jackson's beloved original trilogy.

The most recent movie in the franchise is The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024), an anime that earned mixed reviews and was a box office disappointment.

The Hunt for Gollum takes place during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, meaning it will be seemingly recreating some locations and characters that audiences haven't seen in quite some time. Reliance on nostalgia, however, will only take the film so far, and the movie will hopefully be able to stand on its own two feet as a fun Middle-earth adventure.

Many questions remain about The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, but audiences at least now have a firm date to look forward to.

Source: Warner Bros., THR