Big happenings in Lord of the Rings news. A Gollum movie was just announced. We’re pretty excited but we’re also concerned. Maybe worried would be a better word. I’ll explain. First though, let’s talk about the good news. The Gollum movie is going to be helmed by Andy Serkis. Peter Jackson is producing and that is really reassuring. These guys are super talented and love the source material. Nowadays, that’s a huge consideration. The working title is “The Lord of the Rings: The hunt for Gollum”. So, that’s the upside. Now let’s talk about the concerns about the Gollum movie.
You still here? Good. This is what has me worried about “Gollum” the movie. Again: It’s not Serkis or Jackson. It’s the story they intend to tell and how to tell it. If you’re a LOTR fan you know that Tolkien knew what happened to Gollum after Bilbo got the ring. Tolkien was kind enough to include bullet points about Gollum’s whereabouts, trials and adventures. It’s not a detailed account, but there is a beginning, middle and end to the events of Gollum between the Hobbit and The Fellowship. That’s giant plus.
My big concern is that of a writer. When you write a script or a book, your character has some kind of growth. Experience changes them. We know where Gollum the creature started. We know what happens to him at the end. So, given we know all that, what will Gollum be doing in this movie? We know he runs and hides. He searches and is captured. We know he goes on to search for and find the Hobbits. Is that enough for a movie? Sure! If you do it right. The Studio is going to want a love interest. That’s always a guarantee. Will Jackson invent one like he did for The Hobbit movies? Do Serkis and Jackson feel the need to make stuff up out of whole cloth like what we saw in the Hobbit? I really hope they don’t.
There was no real wiggle room in the writing of The Lord of the Rings movies. They are still fantastic. The Hobbit films were a bigger challenge. Three movies out of one small book. Now here come Gollum, based on bullet points in the appendices. Yikes. As of today, I would try to tackle writing this movie with the ‘Joker’ in mind. Let the audience see Smeagol’s total transformation into the creature. At the end of the movie, we should think that Smeagol is totally gone. And that, kids, is a downer. Maybe not the ending the studio is going to want. But to be true to the source material, how do you get a happy ending for this character? Other than his escape from some really bad hombres. It’s a very fun problem to consider from a writing perspective. Oh, one more piece of good news? Witch Kings and Black Riders are back. That is going to be amazing fun!
It’s great to have a Lord of Rings project to be excited about. We’re stoked and worried about the Gollum movie.
