Some fun casting rumors for Andy Serkis’ The Hunt for Gollum, which could begin shooting in the next few weeks. Many in the original Lord of the Rings cast are expected back, including Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Bean, and Orlando Bloom. No Viggo Mortensen, though, who turned down the chance to play Aragorn once again. But perhaps his replacement has been found?
So let’s start with that one, as DanielRPK has apparently seen a casting grid that has Leo Woodall in talks to play Aragorn, replacing Mortensen. A casting call has been taking place to find an actor in his 30s to fill the role. Woodall blew up with his roles in the Tom Holland drama Cherry as well as the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus. On the big screen, he’s been busy with Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Nuremberg, and the upcoming thriller Tuner that has a lot of folks buzzing. He can currently be seen with Rachel Weisz in the Netflix series, Vladimir. He’s a solid pick, in my opinion.
Another rumor from the same source also has Anya Taylor-Joy up to star in The Hunt for Gollum. As who? That’s unclear, but she’d make a good pick to replace Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, or to play another of the elven clan. Taylor-Joy was most recently seen in Apple’s The Gorge, as well as Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice. One of those movies is amazing. She’ll return to voice Princess Peach in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and also has Dune: Part Three coming up.
The Hunt for Gollum is expected to open in 2027. It’s set just before the Fellowship of hte Ring period, with Gandalf sending Aragorn on a quest to find Gollum. McKellen had mistakenly said the movie was first of a two-parter, but writer Phillippa Boyens corrected the record. It won’t be two parts, but a second live-action movie is also in the works. The full extent of the returning cast is unknown. There’s still quite a lot that we don’t know, but expect any questions to be answered soon.
