New Lord Of The Rings Films In Development For 2026, With Peter Jackson Involved

BREAKING UPDATE: According to Variety, the next Lord Of The Rings film will be titled The Hunt For Gollum – and is set to be directed by and star Andy Serkis. The original story is here as follows:

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Toot the horns, light the beacons: Warner Bros is officially heading back to Middle-earth. And not just in this year’s animated big-screen outing The War Of The Rohirrim. The powers that be are pursuing another trilogy of films set in JRR Tolkien’s fantasy world, following in the footsteps of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and The Hobbit movies – and while it’s all in early stages, things look to be developing fast. According to reports, the first of the new films is aiming for a release in 2026, and Peter Jackson – along with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens – will be involved in a producing capacity.

What exactly the films will entail is entirely under wraps. But as stated by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav on an earnings call, it will “explore storylines yet to be told”. Since the main Lord Of The Rings saga has already been told (and The Hobbit too), and with the unaffiliated Prime Video series The Rings Of Power exploring the Second Age of Middle-earth, it’s unclear quite what those stories might be. Could we be travelling to a time prior to The Hobbit? Or telling an entirely new story in the wake of Frodo Baggins’ big adventure? Time will tell. “Lord Of The Rings is one of the most successful and revered franchises in history and presents a significant opportunity for theatrical business,” Zaslav is reported to have said on the earnings call.

Begin the speculation now, then – what might the story be? Are we due a, ‘Somehow, Sauron returned’ moment? Will Peter Jackson possibly step back in behind the camera? And will Hobbits be taken to Isengard? Place your bets now. We’re off to have a pint and mull it all over. (It comes in pints!)