Or should we say a hard “you shall not pass”?

Peter Jackson clearly changed the whole movie adaptation game with his Middle-earth trilogy, based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel. It is still considered the best adaptation ever filmed, as it satisfied even the most demanding fans of the original, unlike the subsequent LOTR movies and shows.

The Hobbit trilogy and The Rings of Power only raised questions regarding the necessity of such adaptations. While the next take on Tolkien’s universe, The War of the Rohirrim, is scheduled to be released this year, we receive another questionable update.

It has just been announced that the next LOTR project titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is already in development and will be starring and directed by the Gollum actor, Andy Serkis. Peter Jackson is involved only as an executive producer.

This news was received quite negatively by the fandom, who question the reasonability of making a film about the universe’s nastiest creature.

“I think whoever greenlit this grossly overestimates the interest in Gollum,” fairly admits Redditor @FragrantBear675.

Indeed, while the details of the plot are kept under wraps, it seems dubious. However, if it’s titled The Hunt for Gollum, it doesn’t necessarily imply Serkis’ antagonist dominating on screen all the time. Disappointingly, the original characters, who would potentially hunt him, have their actors aged 20 years, so it’s unlikely they’d reprise their roles.

“There are so many more exciting parts of Middle Earth history that could be done,” says Redditor @tacoorpizza.

Yes, the fandom would be definitely happy because of a movie following Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn’s life as King of Arnor and Gondor or even a full Tom Bombadil movie.

Some fans even believe we didn’t need other LOTR films at all:

“Give it a rest, for pity’s sake,” claims @Responsible-Abies21.

It’s explained by the fandom’s fear that the next Middle-earth projects will bring the franchise in the rabbit hole where the Star Wars saga went, coming back to the same four people in the entire galaxy again and again.

While we know literally no premise of The Hunt for Gollum, it’s too early to make such loud conclusions about it. Let’s wait for other updates on the movie, while the original trilogy is available for rewatching on Netflix .