Sir Ian McKellen recently confirmed that he has been approached to return as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, and his LOTR co-star, Orlando Bloom, has now revealed that he's also spoken to director Andy Serkis about potentially reprising the role of Legolas.
Bloom played the Elven archer in Peter Jackson's original trilogy and The Hobbit movies, and some digital technology was used to shave a few years off the actor.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star was first asked if he would be interested in being a part of the new LOTR movies during an interview with Variety.
“Oh, man, those things are amazing. Yeah. I don’t know how they’d do it. I guess with AI you can do anything these days. But, if Pete [Peter Jackson] says jump, I say, ‘how high?’ I mean, he started my whole career.”
Bloom went on to mention that he's talked to Serkis about the upcoming project, and the filmmaker told him that AI could be utilized, presumably to make the returning characters look younger.
“I really don’t know what [they are planning]. I did speak to Andy [Serkis] and he did say they were thinking about how to do things. I was like, ‘How would that even work?’ And he was like, ‘Well, AI!’ and I was like, ‘Oh, OK!’ It was a pretty magical time in my life, and it’s one of those things where there’s not a downside to it.”
If Serkis really is planning to us AI to de-age most of his cast, we can see a downside!
This practice is highly frowned-upon, and more and more people are speaking out about it as certain industry higher-ups attempt to sway public opinion. We're not sure how serious Serkis was being here, but it certainly sounds like using AI for The Hunt for Gollum is something he is considering.
What do you make of Bloom's comments? Let us know in the usual place.
“It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker – Gollum!,” Jackson, Boyens and Walsh said in a statement when the film was announced. “As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”
“Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa,” added Serkis. “With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”.
“For over two-decades, moviegoers have embraced the Lord of the Rings film trilogy because of the undeniable devotion Peter, Fran and Philippa have shown towards protecting the legacy of Tolkien’s works, and to ensure audiences could experience the incredible world he created in a way that honors his literary vision,” WBD film chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca added. “We are honored they have agreed be our partners on these two new films. With Andy coming aboard to direct Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum(*WT), we continue an important commitment to excellence that is a true hallmark of how we all want to venture ahead and further contribute to the Lord of the Rings cinematic history.”