Gollum (Andy Serkis) cries and monologues to himself in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), New Line Cinema
In September 2022, Sir Ian McKellen raised eyebrows when he seemingly let slip the news that not only had he been contacted by Warner Bros. regarding a potential return of his role as The Lord of the Rings‘ iconic Gandalf, but also that the already-announced franchise film The Hunt For Gollum would be at least a two-parter.

Frodo (Elijah Wood), Gollum (Andy Serkis), and Sam (Sean Astin) are three Hobbits hiding in a cave in The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King (2003), New Line Cinema
Asked about the studio’s plans for the franchise’s future during an appearance on the British morning news show This Morning, the actor told his hosts, “Well, all I know is, they called me up and said these films were gonna happen. Many are gonna be about Gollum, Andy Serkis who played Gollum is gonna direct, and there will be a script arriving sometime in the new year, that’s next year, and I will judge whether I want to go back.”

Sir Ian McKellen’s Interview on This Morning show on itv
Unfortunately for fans of the corrupted creature, original The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy writer Philippa Boyens has now confirmed that not only will The Hunt for Gollum be a single film, but also that McKellen’s suggestion otherwise, while an honest mistake, wasn’t completely out of left field.

Speaking to the subject during a recent interview with Empire, Boyens, who is currently back at Warner Bros. working on their future J.R.R. Tolkien-related projects, told the outlet’s Ben Travis, “I can tell you definitively it isn’t two films!”

Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) attends a Dwarven dinner at the home of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), New Line Cinema
“That was a genuine misunderstanding that happened because we’ve begun to work, conceptually, on two different live-action films,” explained the writer behind the upcoming The Lord of the Rings anime film The War of the Rohirrim. “The first being The Hunt For Gollum, the second one still to be confirmed.”

Providing a brief tease of just what fans could expect from the film, the writer asserted, “It’s quite an intense story, which falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria,” adding, “It’s a specific chunk of incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature.”
Gollum (Andy Serkis) schemes against Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), New Line Cinema
Notably, Boyens’ comments track with WB CEO David Zaslav’s May 2024 announcement of The Hunt For Gollum, in which made no mention of multiple films.

As for McKellen’s potential return to Middle-earth (as well as the potential reason for his mistake), Boyens revealed that WB was “playing around with a number of ideas, but most of those ideas do include Gandalf. So, Gandalf would potentially return for two live-action films.”
Gandalf the White (Sir Ian McKellen) draws his blade against the forces of Mordor during the Battle of the Morannon in The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003), New Line Cinema
While WB’s exact plans for McKellen remain unknown, what is known is that Andy Serkis, who provided the voice and motion capture performance for Gollum in the original and Hobbit trilogies, will direct the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum.

Set to be produced by original trilogy director Peter Jackson and penned by both Boyens and fellow original trilogy writer Fran Walsh, The Hunt for Gollum is expected to start filming in New Zealand sometime in 2025 before eventually hitting theaters in 2026.