Though they have yet to be officially announced, several actors from Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy - including Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo - are expected to return for prequel film The Hunt for Gollum, but Viggo Mortensen will not be among them.
Amid rumors that Aragorn will be recast, director Andy Serkis has confirmed that Morensen will not reprise his role as the heroic Ranger.
"I don't know what's out there at the moment, but I know there's a lot of speculation, but let's just say we are recasting the role and we are on the way to finding someone," the filmmaker tells Screen Rant.
Serkis was also asked about the recent news that Kate Winslet has joined the cast, but declined to reveal anything about her character.
"We've got to keep it all back. I mean, look, other than, I think it's probably common knowledge, but our film takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and it's The Hunt for Gollum, and it is a physical hunt for the character, but also a psychological hunt for himself. So we're just about on the launchpad now, and it's very exciting. And yeah, it's going to be a big ride."
According to a recent rumor, English actor Leo Woodall, who gained recognition for his role in the second season of The White Lotus and can currently be seen as the title character in Netflix's Vladimir, is in talks to play Aragorn.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Wood initially appeared to confirm Woodall's casting before clarifying his response (some believe he actually led the cat out of the bag and simply backtracked).
Thanks to his Númenórean heritage, Aragorn ages much more slowly than a normal man (he was 87 during the War of the Ring), and The Hunt for Gollum is only set around 20 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. Woodall is 29 and looks significantly younger, so we're not sure how well his casting would go over with LOTR fans.
It's worth noting that Aragorn's age is only brought up in the Extended Edition of The Two Towers, so it's entirely possible that The Hunt for Gollum will simply ignore the fact that he really wouldn't have looked all that younger during the prequel's timeline.
This time period is mentioned in both Tolkien's novels and Jackson's films, with Gandalf and Aragorn attempting to track Gollum down before he falls into Sauron's hands. In the movies, the wizard says he "searched everywhere for the creature Gollum," but "the Dark Lord found him first." In the books, Aragorn reveals that he did manage to capture Smeagol ("he bit me... and I was not gentle") near the Dead Marshes, but wasn't able to get any information out of him.
“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.”