Andy Serkis Updates Lord of the Rings Spinoff

Some actors walk away from their most famous roles. Andy Serkis? He's building an entire career around his. Gollum—the twisted, ring-obsessed creature he first whispered into existence in 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring—still clings to him like a shadow. And instead of breaking free, Serkis has decided to lean in, helm in hand, directing and starring in The Hunt for Gollum.

At the London premiere of Prime Video's The Girlfriend (which lands on the streaming service September 10, 2025), Serkis admitted he “cannot escape” Gollum—but the words carried no bitterness. If anything, they sounded like affection. “I leave for New Zealand on Saturday,” he told Metro, smiling as if stepping back into Middle-earth was less a job and more a family reunion. Prep work begins now.

It's a curious thing, watching Serkis embrace a character who nearly didn't happen. He's told the story before: how an actor friend once warned him off playing a “digital character” with no face of his own. He almost listened. But Serkis took the risk, and in doing so, redefined how performance capture could live inside blockbuster filmmaking. Without him, there is no Caesar from Planet of the Apes, no Snoke in Star Wars. Without him, maybe there's no modern landscape where digital characters carry emotional weight at all.

Directing isn't new territory either—he took charge of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and even dove into Marvel mayhem with Venom: Let There Be Carnage. But The Hunt for Gollum is different. It isn't just another directing gig. It's returning to the birthplace of a cinematic revolution, armed with two decades of perspective and a creative family still intact. That's rare in Hollywood. Precious, even.

Plot details? Still under lock and key. But the very act of Serkis boarding a plane for New Zealand confirms something vital: this isn't vaporware, it's real, moving, alive. And while Warner Bros. builds out its Middle-earth strategy, Serkis remains its most authentic anchor.

Meanwhile, his slate stays crowded. Beyond Gollum, he's executive producing The Girlfriend, a six-part thriller led by Robin Wright and Olivia Cooke. He called it “a phenomenal piece of work”—and for once, the cliché felt genuine. But no matter how many side projects emerge, it's Gollum that refuses to loosen its grip. Or maybe it's Serkis who won't let go. Hard to say.

Anyway. That's the beauty of it: some roles haunt you, others define you. For Serkis, Gollum does both. And now, he gets to shape the next chapter not just from inside the skin of the creature—but from the director's chair.