There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the ‘Lord of the Rings’ franchise, as of late. Obviously, there’s the popularity of ‘The Rings of Power’ Prime Video series, as well as the new animated film, ‘The War of the Rohirrim.’ However, what might be most exciting of all is the upcoming live-action film, ‘The Hunt for Gollum.’ And according to one of the people responsible for that film, one of the fan-favorite actors has already been asked to return.
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In an excerpt from an upcoming The Playlist interview with ‘Lord of the Rings’ writer Philippa Boyens, a member of the brain trust (alongside Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh) responsible for the future of the ‘Rings’ franchise talked about the forthcoming film, ‘The Hunt for Gollum.’ Specifically, she talked about how the film features a prominent role for Aragorn, and they hope to have Viggo Mortensen return.
She also explained how ‘The Hunt for Gollum’ is set during ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ era, shortly before Frodo Baggins leaves the Shire for Rivendell. And it begins with Gandalf sending Aragorn on a quest to find Gollum, who the wizard fears may reveal information about the One Ring to Sauron, so Viggo Mortensen’s appearance is crucial. But will he return?
“Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively and we are at a very early stage,” she said. “I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy [Serkis] has spoken to him, Peter [Jackson] has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.”
“I know Andy wants to work with him, but also, we don’t see this as like, using A.I. [technology], this is about a digital make-up, and whether Viggo does it or will entirely depends on how good the script is,” she continued. “And he doesn’t have a script yet. So to be fair to Viggo, let’s see if we write a good enough role and that he can find enough in it to see that it’s a performance he wants to take on. After that, it’ll be between Viggo and Andy of how that is achieved.”
However, what happens if Mortensen doesn’t want to or can’t do the film? Well, Boyens and the brain trust would love it if he could still be involved in some way.
“I suspect if he decides he doesn’t want to do it we would still want him to be heavily involved, like how do we hand this character off,” she said, “But literally that decision is several, several months away. He’s got to read the script first and that’s exactly what I’m going to be working on when I get out of this interview [laughs].”
The shape of it is interesting as it’s not quite a prequel, and essentially runs parallel to the events of the ‘The Fellowship Of The Ring.’ Specifically, the film is set after Bilbo’s 111th birthday party and before the Mines of Moria. Boyens explained some of the film’s intention and revealed a few details about it too.
“Yes, it’s deliberately the bridging film and the story we wanted to tell,” she explained. “It does center on Gollum/Smeagol, so it’s a little bit of an origin story going on, but when you delve into it, as you do with anything Professor Tolkien wrote, you see the layers and layers of story that’s underneath there and how interconnected they all are.”
“It is a tricky story, she continued, “Because the fate of several of the characters we already know, but you kind of then have to use that to your advantage as a storyteller.”
— Reporting by Rodrigo Perez
