Jamie Dornan and Leo Woodall to Star in ‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum’ at CinemaCon
Warner Bros. has announced new casting details for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, with Jamie Dornan stepping into the role of Strider, an alias of Aragorn, and Leo Woodall cast as Halvard. Previously, Viggo Mortensen portrayed Strider in the earlier LOTR films.
The announcement was made during the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday afternoon.
The Hunt for Gollum marks a return to New Line’s Middle-earth franchise, based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. This new installment follows Aragorn’s urgent mission to capture Gollum before the creature can disclose the location of the One Ring to Sauron. The narrative, primarily derived from Tolkien’s footnotes, takes place between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring.
Directing the film is Andy Serkis, who also reprises his role as Gollum. Elijah Wood will return as Frodo Baggins, while Ian McKellen will again portray Gandalf. These actors have been associated with their characters since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. The original trilogy includes The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), which won the Oscar for Best Picture.
The script for The Hunt for Gollum was crafted by Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Phoebe Gittins, and Arty Papageorgiou. The production team includes Jackson, Boyens, Walsh, and Zane Weiner, and the film is scheduled for release on December 17, 2027.
Previous works in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies have collectively grossed nearly $6 billion worldwide. This new film will represent the first live-action theatrical return to Tolkien’s world for Warner Bros. since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and will follow the release of the 2024 anime film The War of the Rohirrim.
