Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum delayed to 2027

We’ve received an update on the new spinoff film, Lord of the Rings: Hunt for Gollum, directed by and starring Andy Serkis as Gollum. The release date has been pushed back to December 2027.

During his appearance at Fan Expo Vancouver 2025, Serkis confirmed the delay in response to a question about the film’s progress.

“Yeah, it is not 2026,” Serkis mentioned at the expo (via The Direct). “It was originally going to be December 2026. It is going to be December 2027.”

Serkis also shared that the writing process for the film has just begun, with plans for production to commence next year in 2026.

“We are right at the beginning of the writing process. We will be prepping later this year. Prep takes a good chunk of time, six or seven months, and then we will be shooting next year. So, it backs into that December 2027 release date.”

The spinoff film will focus exclusively on the character Gollum from J.R.R. Tolkien’s renowned series, although the timeline of the film is yet to be revealed.

While further details about the spinoff film have not been confirmed, it is known that Sir Ian McKellen was approached to reprise his role as Gandalf.