The Lord of the Rings film Gollum could be the model for adapting a major event cut from Peter Jackson’s films

Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings films cut a major event from the source material, but The Hunt for Gollum could reveal how to adapt it in the future. announced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum in May, and the film is scheduled to hit theaters in 2026. Few story details have been officially revealed, but The 2026 Gollum film is confirmed to take place during The Fellowship of the Ringtimeline. Based on what we know, Gandalf and Aragorn will likely try to track down Gollum after he is captured by Sauron.

This is a quest that takes place in JRR Tolkien’s books, but Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring the film condenses everything between Bilbo’s birthday party and Frodo’s departure from the Shire. The fact that Gollum’s next film details events unseen in retrospect offers hope that Another incident cut from Jackson’s films could receive similar treatment. Although it is understandable that SDA movies left out County Clearing, it would be great to see an individual project deal with it in some way – even if it’s years later.

The hunt for Gollum could be the model for adapting the destruction of the Shire

This Cut Incident Could Also Get Its Own Movie Years Later

While The War of the Rohirrim is treading new territory based on Tolkien’s writings, The Hunt for Gollum is returning to what has already been adapted. The 2026 film will expand on the events covered up in Jackson’s film trilogyfinally adapting them properly on screen. With Andy Serkis reprising the role of Gollum and Warner Bros. With an eye on Sir Ian McKellen for Gandalf’s return, it appears this addition to the franchise will be worked into existing adaptations. This could mean reconfiguring what came before, or it could mean adjusting Tolkien’s work to fit the timeline of the films.

Regardless of how the writers understand The Hunt for Gollum overlap with BrotherhoodOne thing is certain: the 2026 film will prove that Warner Bros. could add something to the film trilogy even years later. This means a similar project could be used to bring County Clearance to the screen. A major event in Tolkien’s Third Age history, the Devastation of the Shire sees Saruman and his forces invading the home of the Hobbits. Frodo and his friends are forced to retrieve it after Sauron’s defeat, making this the final confrontation of the books.

It is understandable that Jackson cut the Devastation of the County from an already long Return of the King film. However, with The Hunt for Gollum exploring unseen events from the main story, It’s possible that some version of County Clearing could also be adapted into a film.

Why the Shire’s Destruction Wasn’t Included in Peter Jackson’s Films

It would have felt out of place and “anticlimactic” after the king’s climactic return

Although Frodo has a similar vision to the Shire’s Purge in Galadriel’s Mirror, Jackson didn’t want to adapt the battle into Return of the King. He explained his reasoning in interviews included in the extended editions of the films, suggesting that it would have been a “anticlimactic“way to end things (via CBR). It’s a fair point, especially since the final SDA the film does a great job of capturing the epic nature of the destruction of the One Ring and the Battle of the Black Gate. It would be difficult to follow any of these moments.

Jackson also believed it would have been a distractionwhich is understandable given how much more happens in The Return of the King. The conclusion of the trilogy is already long, and adding another battle to the end would have done more harm than good. So it’s probably for the best that the Devastation of the Shire didn’t happen in the movies, even if Tolkien fans were interested in seeing it. And if The Hunt for Gollum is successful, it’s possible this showdown could still be adapted – though there will be significant challenges in coverage after the films.

There are challenges in making a film about this Tolkien event after The Lord of the Rings

Saruman’s death upon the king’s return is the biggest problem

Although The Hunt for Gollum proves that Lord of the Rings events can be adapted in retrospect, there are major challenges to following this plan for County Cleaning. The biggest is the fact that Saruman and Wormtongue perished at the beginning The Return of the King, making it impossible for them to devastate the Shire later. And even if an adaptation wanted to change the Cleansing timeline, Saruman’s presence would be impossible without the late Christopher Lee.

The only way to adapt some version of the Cleansing would be without Saruman and Wormtongue, perhaps leaving it to the Orcs and Uruk-hai to attack Frodo’s home. We don’t actually see the return of the Hobbits immediately after the War of the Ring, so it’s possible they still needed to reclaim their lands from the enemy. THE SDA the franchise could sell this angle if they wanted to act like the cleanup had happened. However, the battle would seem without Saruman’s presence, and that’s not to mention all the Hobbits would need to return.

With Jackson Lord of the Rings films released more than two decades ago, all of the actors playing Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin have aged. This can also be distracting, even with anti-aging technology. It goes without saying that the number of challenges facing Lord of the Rings the franchise would need to overcome to adapt to cleaning may not be worth it. The Hunt for Gollum It faces some similar issues, but it won’t be that difficult to integrate into the films’ existing timeline.