The Hunt for Gollum screenwriter confirms Lord of the Rings spinoff will be just one movie, but teases another live-action project

Ian McKellen got Lord of the Rings fans talking last month when he confirmed he had been approached about reprising his role of Gandalf for The Hunt for Gollum and added that the film would be a two-parter. Fans were a little confused, but screenwriter Philippa Boyens has thankfully set the record straight while speaking with Empire, confirming that the spinoff will be just one movie after all.

“I can tell you definitively it isn’t two films!” Boyens said. “That was a genuine misunderstanding that happened because we’ve begun to work, conceptually, on two different live-action films. The first being The Hunt For Gollum, the second one still to be confirmed.” Boyens also added a few brief details on where The Hunt for Gollum fits into the Lord of the Rings saga. “It’s quite an intense story, which falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria,” she said. “It’s a specific chunk of incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature.“

It’s not clear what that second movie would be, but it could also involve Gandalf. “We’re playing around with a number of ideas, but most of those ideas do include Gandalf,” Boyens explained. “So Gandalf would potentially return for two live-action films.” It’s been ten years since McKellen last played Gandalf, but the 85-year-old actor has said that if they want him to reprise the role once again, they’d “better be quick” about it.

Andy Serkis, who will direct the movie as well as play Gollum, dropped a few teases about The Hunt for Gollum earlier this year. “It is so early; it would be unfair to commit to anything at this point,” Serkis said. “But I will say that it will be a deep dive where we investigate Gollum’s character. There may be characters that we recognize that might be coming back. I’m not going to say who.“

While we did see a lot of Gollum’s saga play out in the previous six movies, Peter Jackson has previously said that there’s still a lot of story left to be told. “The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic,” Jackson said. “I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us. We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien.“