Filming Starts on Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum

The hunt is officially underway. Cameras have rolled on a film that promises to map the battered contour of one of Middle-earth’s most haunted minds.

Film Crave announced on X that principal photography for Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum has begun. The project was first revealed in 2023 and immediately reignited the fandom’s curiosity: how do you dramatize the slow collapse of a soul shaped by an obsession with a ring?

Set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, the film positions itself as a Gollum origin story. The plot is framed around a mission—Gandalf sends Aragorn to track down Gollum—and the camera stays with Gollum, offering the story through his fractured point of view. It’s intimate. It’s uneasy. It’s a side of Tolkien’s world we’ve long wanted to understand.

Some familiar faces will return to Middle-earth: Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Andy Serkis as Gollum, and Elijah Wood as Frodo are all confirmed to reprise their roles. At the same time, Jamie Dornan steps into Aragorn’s boots, a role originally played by Viggo Mortensen. The cast also includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Leo Woodall, and Kate Winslet, adding fresh threads to the tapestry.

Andy Serkis not only returns to embody Gollum but also directs, with Peter Jackson producing. Filming is underway now, and the film is slated for release on December 17, 2027 (26 Azar 1406).

What should fans expect? A tonal shift toward character study and psychological drama, told from the perspective of the creature who will later be both pitiable and monstrous. Keep an eye on set photos and casting updates—Middle-earth has never looked so small and yet so vast.