It’s been twelve years since audiences had a The Lord of the Rings movie in the theaters since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Although Peter Jackson is not in the director’s chair as with the six previous films, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is in good hands with Andy Serkis, who will be on double duty as the director and reprising his role as Gollum.

And today will be Day One of the production start of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, where the entire franchise started—New Zealand.

The cast so far will be Anya Taylor-Joy, Leo Woodall, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Lee Pace, Ian McKellen, and Jamie Dornan. Serkis directed the film based on the screenplay written by Philippa Boyens, Phoebe Gittins, and Peter Jackson. This story will not be directly based on any J.R.R. Tolkien work, but a new original story based on his characters.

No official synopsis has been released at this time. But on IMDB, the description reads:

Aragorn’s quest to capture Gollum between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, tracking him to keep the Ring’s location from Sauron. The film explores Aragorn’s early adventures as a ranger.

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In celebration of Day One of production, Warner Bros. released a behind-the-scenes announcement video featuring Andy Serkis.

The video features Andy Serkis in a motion capture suit heading to his director’s chair and asking his assistant about where to start for Day One of production. The response was, “The beginning.” And Serkis acknowledges his role, gets into his Gollum stance, and says, “Action.” Then the clip ends with an outdoor set production on the rocky hills of New Zealand.

It’ll be a long production for this film, but fans are eager to see one of their favorite characters back on screen. The release date is currently circled for Friday, December 17, 2027.

Watch the video below for the Day One production announcement of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Let us know what you think.

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Source: Warner Bros.