Andy Serkis Confirms ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ Has Begun Filming, Teases Jamie Dornan’s Take On A Younger Aragorn

Middle-earth is stirring again, and this time the buzz isn’t about a rerelease or an anniversary screening. Warner Bros and a returning creative team led by Peter Jackson have spent years quietly building toward a brand new chapter set in Tolkien’s world, one that finally feels close to reality. Andy Serkis is directing the film while also stepping back into performance capture to play Gollum, with the screenplay coming from Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh, joined by Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou.

The project, ‘The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum,’ has been one of the most closely watched fantasy productions in years. Set between ‘The Hobbit’ and the original trilogy, the story follows how Gollum began hunting Bilbo for the One Ring, only to be captured by Sauron’s forces while Gandalf and Aragorn raced to find him first. So far only Serkis, Ian McKellen, and Elijah Wood are officially confirmed to return, with McKellen once again playing Gandalf the Grey and Wood back as Frodo.

Now Serkis has given fans exactly the update they were waiting for. In a wide ranging interview, Serkis revealed that filming on ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ kicked off last week in New Zealand. “We’ve literally just completed a week. We’re finally up and running, so it’s great,” he told Variety, adding that being back with longtime collaborators felt like coming home.

The other detail fans latched onto involves the film’s most consequential recasting. Serkis will once again be tracked by a young Aragorn, with Jamie Dornan taking over the role from Viggo Mortensen. Serkis praised his new co-star’s early work on set, saying Dornan is doing extremely well and calling his performance fantastic so far.

The recasting isn’t a small swap for a franchise built on Mortensen’s version of the character. Speaking about how the new actor fits into the story, Serkis explained that this Aragorn is at a different point in his journey, making him slightly different from the version audiences met later. In that same conversation, he added that this take on the character is essentially a Dúnedain Ranger fresh out of the wilderness, still becoming the man fans know, one his team is calling Strider rather than Aragorn for most of the story.

That framing has sparked plenty of debate among longtime Tolkien fans. The film has already generated online discourse among purists, some of whom question whether this is even a story that needed telling, especially with new invented characters like Kate Winslet’s Marigol and Leo Woodall’s Halvard joining the hunting party. Still, the film’s premise, following Aragorn’s early adventures as a ranger while he chases Gollum to keep the Ring’s location from Sauron, gives the new cast plenty of room to make the role their own.

With cameras officially rolling and a release date set for December 17, 2027, ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ suddenly feels like a real, moving production rather than a distant announcement. Are you ready to accept Jamie Dornan as a younger Strider, or will Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn always be impossible to replace in your eyes?