British actor to direct new Lord Of The Rings film

ANDY Serkis will direct a new Lord Of The Rings film about his character Gollum, it has been announced.

Sir Peter Jackson, the director of the original trilogy, will produce the film alongside his partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

The Gollum film will be released in 2026, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav said during an earnings call to investors yesterday.

The project is currently in the “early stages of script development” by writers Walsh and Boyens, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou, Zaslav said.

The film will “explore storylines yet to be told,” he added, and will “present a significant opportunity for our theatrical business”.

British actor Serkis is best known for his groundbreaking motion capture work as Gollum in the adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s beloved books.

His other motion capture characters include Caesar in the Planet Of The Apes films and Supreme Leader Snoke in the latest Star Wars films.

He has also forged a career as a filmmaker, directing films such as Breathe, Mowgli: Legend Of The Jungle, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Details of the upcoming film come after Warner Bros announced to fans there would be a series of new feature films based on The Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit franchises incoming.

At the time operative group Freedmode chief executive Lee Guinchard said the company was “thrilled” to bring the “incomparable” world of Tolkien back to the big screen “in new and exciting ways”.

“We understand how cherished these works are and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Pictures, we plan to honour the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values,” he said.

The films are among the most successful and acclaimed of all time. The last film in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy was released in 2003 and won 11 Oscars.