The latest project in development for The Lord of the Rings franchise hasn’t been taken without its fair share of criticism, but one major issue that fans had with the upcoming new entry can now be safely set aside as it enters production thanks to some recent clarifying comments.

While The Lord of the Rings reached the pinnacle of fantasy fame not too long after the original story by J.R.R. Tolkien was published, the IP didn’t really hit the mainstream until Peter Jackson created his equally genre-defining film adaptation trilogy of the work. Each of the three films won a plethora of awards, including a fantasy genre record-setting 11 Oscars for the final film. Since that massive success and the subsequent release of The Hobbit trilogy, Warner Bros. has done little with the IP but recently announced a new slate of projects based on it, with the first being an all-new adventure based on the character Gollum. While some welcomed the news with open arms, others have insisted that The Hunt For Gollum is a step in the wrong direction.

While skeptics are still going to have doubts about the upcoming films, one of the more disastrous creative choices rumored to have been taken has now been proven false. It was originally understood that The Hunt for Gollum would be split into two films when original Lord of the Rings star Sir Ian McKellen revealed that more movies were planned for the franchise, but that unfortunate mix-up has thankfully been sorted. Speaking to Empire about her work on The War Of The Rohirrim, Lord Of The Rings franchise screenwriter Philippa Boyens cleared the air on the issue with a definitive explainer on what’s going on. “I can tell you definitively it isn’t two films!” she confirmed. “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.”

There’s certainly tons of speculation that’s going to pop up concerning the second project alluded to in this statement, but the main point still remains focused on The Hunt for Gollum. While there Is A Limit On LOTR content & studios are already reaching it on both the theatrical and streaming front, with both Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon MGM Studios going all in on the franchise, The Hunt for Gollum will be a unique experience, according to Boyens. “It’s quite an intense story, which falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria,” Boyens said further, reassuring fans of the project’s value. “It’s a specific chunk of incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature.”

The idea of The Hunt for Gollum being split into two films was a problem for many fans, who rightfully highlighted the pacing issues that would come into play following such a move. With this clarification, the film’s most obvious flaw has been fixed, but there are still more questions to be answered. Additionally, the second project that was mentioned in Boyens’ statement could feasibly be just about anything, as many past stars (other than Hugo Weaving) are willing to return, and the franchise still has a lot to offer that can be adapted for a feature-length film. However, Boyens did give fans some clues as to what shape that could take and how Sir McKellen could be involved. “We’re playing around with a number of ideas, but most of those ideas do include Gandalf,” Boyens admitted. “So Gandalf would potentially return for two live-action films.” Boyens also discussed a potential result of The War Of The Rohirrim; another anime. “We have an absolute banger of a second film that would just be incredible as an anime,” she revealed. “But let’s see if there’s an appetite for it.”

Now that the upcoming Gollum project has been locked in as a single film with a unique story, the discourse can return to its validity. It’s been the case that no LOTR project has recaptured the magic of Jackson’s original trilogy, not even the Hobbit trilogy that the filmmaker followed up with. There isn’t a lot of confidence that The Hunt for Gollum will be the project to do it, but with all the pieces in place as they are, fans shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it.

The Lord of the Rings franchise is largely available to stream on Max.