2026’s new Lord of the Rings movie must answer 1 key question to be successful

The biggest responsibility of 2026 The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is to answer one critical question. Over a decade after The Battle of the Five Armies was released in theaters to mixed reviews, Warner Bros is finally taking a stab at another movie based on the world of JRR Tolkien’s prolific fantasy novels. This will be separate from Amazon Prime Video The rings of power series, which is currently running its second season. 2024 will also see the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim Movie.

While JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Books have a wealth of world-building and lore that are still being examined decades after his passing, there are only a handful of proper novels. The reason The Lord of the Rings Movies are undoubtedly worth adapting because the material can be transferred from book to film without requiring much change. Everything in the latest wave of Tolkien adaptations, included The dog for Gollum production, requires a significant amount of speculation and invention on the part of its screenwriters, creating an inherent problem.

The Hunt for Gollum must answer why it is an important addition to LOTR

The Hunt for Gollum needs to be more than just a lot of void filler

The biggest question for The dog for Gollum To answer is why this movie needs to be made. The story behind The dog for Gollum exists within the text of The Lord of the Rings novels and the supplements of The return of the kingBut it’s essentially just a blip of exposition. Whether it’s further study of Gollum’s character, something to contribute thematically to the original trilogy, or something else, The film needs to be more than just “more Lord of the Rings.”

There are several important reasons to think positively about The dog for Gollum. Andy Serkis will direct, and he’s clearly passionate about playing Smeagol And expanded on the history of the character. not to mention, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy director Peter Jackson is involved as a producer, so there will be trusted creative leads involved in the process. This is all very promising, but they still need to deliver a feature worthy of their previous installments and, of course, Tolkien’s books.

The writers must eliminate the biggest concerns about 2026’s Lord of the Rings movie

They need to prove that this is a story worth people’s time

The fact that they are turning this into a feature film raises immediate questions, especially with Warner Bros’ recent prerogative to use their major IP titles more often. The movie has already received a fair amount of skepticism for milking the franchise and needs to prove that it isn’t. Love it or hate it, at least The rings of power is exploring an era of Tolkien’s world that has never been seen on film, and the same can be said of The War of the Rohirrim. The dog for Gollum went back to where they started.