Tolkien related video's.

Could we have an even longer trilogy?

{{ Glad we didn't, 99% of their ideas sound terrible. }}

Quite liked the fans film, hunt for Gollum.

{{ Yeah same, thing is it pretty much covered the story fine, I don't see how they can spin it out much more without just doing a RoP and making a lot of stuff up. Also seems they still only have access to the appendices not Sil or UT so we are likely to get another RoP shitshow of bad invention and contradicting Tolkien's actual writings- or something like the Boyens terrible sounding Helm animated film still to come out, but which sounds highly dodgy and like its all bout Helms daughter fighting the evil male patriarchy of Rohan, which if it is I just cannot be arsed with at all. }}

Not quite sure how this Gollum spinoff is supposed to work? As Petty says they don't have the rights to Unfinished Tales which IIRC covers some of the 'Hunt for Gollum', and even if they just follow the few lines of info about in the LOTR book we know Gandalf and Aragorn were involved in hunting down Gollum, I think it unlikely Viggo Mortensen or Ian Mckellen will be involved (and the cost of the CGI to de-age them renders the point moot i.m.o).

I did watch the 'Hunt For Gollum' fan film many years back but can't really recall it very well, but my main issue with this idea is how it works with Gollum's exisiting character arc. LOTR starts with Gollum as a coniving loner still in thrall to the RIng not exactly a 'bad guy' but not a heroric lead and very much a supporting character who is partly redeemed by the events of the novel...this spinoff film will be set before this so what will Gollum's character arc be? Will he be attempting to track down the ring killing orcs etc? Or sat in a cave muttering forlornly to himself? Will he be front and centre as a lead 'hero' character?

Gollum is a great character, but I can't help but feel he's been overused in the videogames etc (the recent Gollum game dosen't seem to be recieved very well) and Serkis fine performance at times was reduced to facial tics and weird voices, following Gollum for 2-3 hours may prove a tad wearisome i.m.o and ruin the charm of the character. I assume all the supporting characters, plot etc will be completely made up by the screenwriters.

This just feels like fan fiction and a cash grab to me, not a very interesting story to tell i.m.o.

Curious what the other spinoff film will be, I'm guessing a prequel following Legolas or something.

Probably going to skip this one, as I did Rings Of Power.

{{ Not sure it'd be very entertaining in detail, nor what people might expect (or like) from Gandalf and Aragorn's appearances- Gandalf threatens to set Gollum on fire to get info out of him and Aragorn calls the entire journey with Gollum totally miserable, and says all he ever got out of him was curses and bites. Cant say it sounds super entertaining movie material.
Plus it's just walking about basically, first Gandalf and Aragon walk about finding nothing at all, then Gandalf has a better idea and goes off to research in Minas Tirirth (which they already showed us in FotR), and Aragon wanders about some more near Mordor a bit longer before he too gives it up, and luckily comes across Gollum's trail on his way back. So Aragorn isn't even proactive in the capture of Gollum, it's pure fluke he finds him at all, and only when he wasn't even trying to.
And how are they going to fit it all into the supposed gap in the films between Bilbo and Frodo leaving? They dumped the books 17 year gap this all takes place during.

So the build up to capturing Gollum is no more than a few lines of story, once Aragorn find him it's a miserable journey in which Gollum says nothing more than curses and does nothing more than try to bite him, and all Aragorn does is drag him along being miserable. Not an enthralling sounding act in a film.
Then they go to Mirkwood, Gandalf turns back up and threatens to burn the info out of Gollum, and gets it, so that's basically a scene of talking, then some time after Gollum escapes - the only potential action in the entire story.
And it's not got a natural end point for a movie. I just don't see how it can work without being crammed full of made up additions, and this is PJ we are talking about, look at the standard of made up stuff he added to the TH. Bloody awful. RoP levels of awful. I'm not sure I can bear to watch Tolkien's work shat on for a third time in a row!   }}

{{ Its only about 35 minutes long, has a contrived fight sequence to shove some action into the story, and ends on Gandalf coming to talk to Gollum in Mirkwood. So basically even trying to spin it out in to half an hour of material they had to invent a big chunk of it. }}

{{ Sounds like the person who made this is just wishful thinking. Personally I hope they don't get the rights to Sil, LotR's were decent films (well 1 was), but poor adaptations, TH were terrible films and appalling adaptations, and they had all the rights to all they needed to make those. I don't think them having the rights to Sil would mean we actually get a good adaption of any of it. And I'd rather not give them the chance to butcher it too. }}

Yes it is Halfy.

My stomach lurched when I saw that video about The Sil. I also had a small, on the edge panic attack. I dont want to be in a world where Peejers gets hold of The Silmarillion. No matter what people say about his achievement with LOTRs he does not have enough professionalism, quality, clarity or sensitivity to carry this out. For Gods sake NO !

{{ Hear! Hear! Well said Az }}

Thinking about what may be included in the Hunt for Gollum movie coming 2026.
*Knowing the Hobbit trilogy pulled from hundreds of years of material to fit into 3 movie, I checked the Third Age timeline.

Here are events the occured over a 76 period that could possibly be included in this stand alone movie.
All of the potential Aragorn backstory is in this window.

Many locations and events to include.. it will be interesting to see what the writers pull into this story .

A separate note:
T.A. 2463 is when Sméagol took the ring from Deagol—that is 500 years before the Hunt for Gollum. What happened to Gollum during these first years may also… be used as back story…

Here is the 76 year window:

*2942 Sauron returns to Mordor

*2944 Gollum begins his hunt for the One Ring.

*2951 Sauron sends three Nazgûl to reoccupy Dol Guldur. Construction begins on Barad-dûr.

*2952 Elrond reveals to 'Estel' his true name and ancestry. He gives Aragorn the Shards of Narsil. In the woods of Rivendell, Aragorn meets Arwen. Aragorn goes into the Wild.

*2953 Last meeting of the White Council
Death of Steward Turgon. Ecthelion II becomes Ruling Steward of Gondor. Saruman begins to fortify Isengard

*2954 Orodruin re-awakens

*2956 Aragorn meets Gandalf.

*2957 Aragorn begins his great journeys as Thorongil.

*2980 Adventures of Thorongil end. Aragorn and Arwen are betrothed. Gollum meets Shelob. Théoden becomes the sixteenth King of Rohan.

*2990 Saruman begins breeding Orcs.

*2994 Destruction of Balin's colony in Moria

*3000 Saruman ensnared by Sauron.

*3001 Gandalf begins to suspect the One Ring is in the Shire. Bilbo's birthday feast. Frodo Baggins comes in possession of the One Ring.

*3002 Bilbo comes to Imladris.

*3004 Gandalf begins to visit the Shire on a regular basis. 3008 Gandalf visits end.

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*3014 Gríma Wormtongue becomes chief counsellor for Théoden.

*3017 Gollum captured and taken to Barad-dûr. Éomer becomes Marshal. Gandalf reads the scroll of Isildur in Minas Tirith.

*3018 war of ring begins-Gollum hides in Moria

That was taken from the cinematic & television universe of J R R Tolkien.

{{ If they cover Gollum's backstory, up to his fateful day fishing with Deagol and then its aftermath - they will have to fundamentally change how they have so far written Gollum, which has been to simplify him and dumb the character down in the extreme.
In their version we have Gollum=bad and Smeagol=good.
But that's not what Tolkien wrote, Smeagol was a sneaky, devious, untrustworthy little git before he got the Ring, which is why he was so quick to murder, and why he was so quick to use the Ring to his own advantage, or try to, by using it to spy on people and find out information, presumably for purposes of extortion and blackmail. Smeagol was never a good person.
He probably wasn't murderous, just the sort of untrustworthy little creep you often get in life, but he certainly wasn't the happy friendly Smeagol they have thus far portrayed either.

A lot will depend on if this is meant to fit into their version or Tolkien's version, as they are quite different. Aragorn's backstory has some similar issues- Aragorn and Arwen betrothing their love should be in this time period, but they already covered it right before the Council of Elrond and we already saw it. That works fine for a new audience in a single film, but it makes a mess of their relationship timeline if you want to do more on it, as they might here.
And there is the general problem if it's meant to fit in, when does the Hunt for Gollum itself take place ? In the books it occurs in the 17 year gap they removed.

So they have a few issues of their own making on top of the task of making up 99% of all the dialogue around any events they do choose to depict. And who has any faith left in Boyen and the rest of the Coven to write a word of Tolkienesque dialogue after the "I could have anything down my trousers" dialogue of the Hobbit films? }}