The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumis facing a significant problem after a release date change. While the most recentThe Lord of the Ringsmovie, the animeThe War of the Rohirrim, was released in theaters in 2024,The Hunt for Gollumwill be the franchise’s first live-action movie sinceThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armiesin 2014. Andy Serkis, who played Gollum/Smeagol in the previous movies, is directing the project while Peter Jackson is attached as a producer.
The Hunt for Gollum’s confirmed castincludes Serkis reprising the titular role and Ian McKellen returning to play Gandalf. The story will see Gandalf and Aragorn going on a quest to find Gollum prior to the events with Frodo Baggins inThe Fellowship of the Ring.The Hunt for Gollumwas delayedfrom December 2026 to 2027, which was a wise move given that the movie is only at the beginning of the writing process. However, a different movie’s schedule change is now creating an issue forThe Lord of the Rings' next movie installment.
2027’s Lord Of The Rings Movie Is Now Facing Off With An Avengers Movie
They Now Have The Same Release Date
The Hunt for Gollumis slated for July 04, 2025, which gives the movie more time to be properly developed. Meanwhile, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’sAvengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Warswere delayedto June 14, 2025 and to July 17, 2025 after being previously scheduled for June 18, 2025 and June 18, 2025. This now means thatThe Hunt for GollumandAvengers: Secret Warswill be released on the exact same day, which is poised to feature a battle between two of the biggest franchises in popular culture.
ALord of the RingsandStar Warsbox office battlepreviously seemed like it was going to happen in December 2027 when an untitledStar Warsmovie was slated for that month. With the Shawn Levy-directed and Ryan Gosling-ledStar Wars: Starfighterreleasing in May 2027, though,Star Warsno longer has a movie coming out in December 2027. The primary box office competition of that month will instead be betweenThe Lord of the Ringsand the MCU.
Lord Of The Rings Cannot Take On Avengers: Secret Wars
Secret Wars Is Expected To Be Another $2 Billion Hit
The Lord of the Ringsis an undeniably lucrative franchise, with the majority of the previous live-action movies earning close to or more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. WithThe Hunt for Gollumbeing the franchise’s first live-action movie in 13 years and featuring the returns of Serkis, McKellen, and probably other legacy actors as well, it has a good chance of reaching the $1 billion mark as well. The most recentAvengersmovies,Infinity WarandEndgame, far surpassed that, though, with both making more than $2 billion worldwide.
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Secret Warswill likely follow in their footsteps and make $2 billion or moregiven its extensive cast of beloved superheroes, being a continuation ofDoomsday’s story, and concluding the Multiverse Saga that began in 2021.The Hunt for Gollumcannot financially compete with this. Both movies will probably take a hit at the box office if they release on the same day, butThe Hunt for Gollumwill likely struggle more thanSecret Wars. This is not a financial risk thatThe Lord of the Rings can take afterWar of the Rohirrim’s record-low box office numbers.
Where Could The Hunt For Gollum Move To?
Moving A Few Weeks Earlier May Not Be Any Better
Every singleThe Lord of the RingsandThe Hobbitmovie has been released in December. Regardless ofWar of the Rohirrim’s performance,the franchise understandably wants to stick with the December release windowgiven how well it has served them in the past.The Hunt for Gollumcould be moved to an earlier date in December 2027, giving it time to perform well beforeSecret Warsdebuts. This still presents an issue with having legs at the box office, though, and it will still likely struggle during the valuable holiday window.
To avoidFrozen IIIandSecret Wars,The Hunt for Gollumcould move to 2028, although this would be disappointing after the movie was originally slated for 2026.
Moving further back into November 2027 is another possibility, but it comes with a different challenge considering thatFrozen IIIis releasing on November 24. There is arguably less overlap betweenThe Lord of the RingsandFrozen’s audiences than betweenThe Lord of the Ringsand the MCU’s audiences, butFrozenis still another major franchise that has proven to be a box-office juggernaut. To avoidFrozen IIIandSecret Wars,The Hunt for Gollumcould move to 2028, although this would be disappointing after the movie was originally slated for 2026.
WB Should Still Be Confident In The Hunt For Gollum, Despite Its Challenges
The Hunt For Gollum Still Has Tremendous Promise
Secret Wars' delay has created a challenge forThe Hunt for Gollum, which now needs to find yet another release date unless it wants to end up competing with a movie expected to make more than $2 billion. Nevertheless, Warner Bros. should still have faith thatThe Hunt for Gollumcan be a hit. With Serkis having one of thebest performances inThe Lord of the Ringsmovies, the idea of him playing Gollum again is already enticing, as is seeing him direct his first movie in the franchise.
Ian McKellen playing Gandalf is just as exciting and is a compelling draw given how beloved the actor and the character are in popular culture. Viggo Mortensen is not yet confirmed to be returning as Aragorn, but given Aragorn’s importance to the story, there is a good chance that he will be inThe Hunt for Gollum’s cast as well. Many of theoriginalLord of the Ringscasthave also said they are open to returning. The nostalgia of familiar faces and ties to the original trilogy will help the movie to have widespread appeal.
The story will hopefully be compelling as well, providing further insight into Gollum, Gandalf, and Aragorn prior to their stories in the novels and films. In order forThe Hunt for Gollumto reach its full potential, though,Warner Bros. needs to set it up for success. One of the best ways to do this is by providing a release date where it does not have to compete with anAvengersmovie that will conclude the MCU’s Multiverse Saga.The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumshould be released at a time when it can fully thrive.
