There are few movie franchises that had the massive scale of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The filmmaker painstakingly created J.R.R. Tolkein’s world in live-action, to wildly successful results. The franchise has continued its time on the small and silver screens thanks to the Hobbit trilogy, as well as the prequel show The Rings of Power, which is available with an Amazon subscription. More LOTR movies are on the way, so would Andy Serkis come back as Gollum?
The original Lord of the Rings trilogy broke new ground in regards to its scale, as well as its stunning visual effects. That includes bringing Gollum to life, with Andy Serkis doing the motion capture and voice performance to bring that iconic creature to life. Since Warner Bros. has more LOTR movies on the way, fans are wondering if Serkis might be back in his signature role. When asked about this possibility by THR, he responded by saying:
I adore those guys and they are a second family to me. I’ve spent so many years making films with them. I love their sensibility and their take; it’s filmmaking on a different kind of level. You live and breathe it. And so, yes, if some opportunity were to come up, it would be an amazing thing.
Well, that’s certainly hopeful. While there’s nothing currently in writing, it seems like Andy Serkis would be down to return to Gollum in whatever Lord of the Rings film projects that are coming down the line. Now make it happen, Warner Bros.!
While each member of the Lord of the Rings cast provided iconic performances, it’s really hard to imagine anyone but Andy Serkis playing Gollum on the big screen. Despite the motion capture and extensive visual effects needed to bring the sad creature to life, Serkis put a ton of his own physicality and vocal performance into creating Gollum. And the results were wildly acclaimed, with the character pivoting between two distinct personalities.
Following his tenure in Lord of the Rings, Andy Serkis has continued to bring outstanding motion capture performances to life. He notably played the title character of King Kong, as well as protagonist Caesar in the Planet of the Apes films. He portrayed Baloo in Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which he also directed. And of course, he brought the much-discussed Supreme Leader Snoke to life in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, with Serkis admitting to being “gutted” when he was killed off.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear exactly what LOTR’s future in theaters will be. But given the success of the original trilogy, there are going to be some high expectations. There are generations of fans who would no doubt check out these movies, especially if Andy Serkis was involved.
Both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies are streaming on Max, while Amazon is the home of The Rings of Power. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.