Philippa Boyens & Andy Serkis Share New Concerning Details About 'The Hunt For Gollum' Film

Philippa Boyens and Andy Serkis shared more details about what to expect from the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum film.

Boyens, who is a writer and producer on the Serkis-directed film, spoke to Empire Magazine as part of the outlet’s 25th anniversary reunion issue for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. She shared, “It’s an adventure story with a really strong psychological, interior story that’s going on as well.”

“It is a phenomenal challenge, exciting and of course terrifying at the same time,” Serkis added. “We have a very specific task ahead of us. A return to Middle-earth, that satisfies the passion and the love that generations of Lord Of The Rings fans have for these stories, whilst also presenting something completely fresh and new for first-timers to Middle-earth, with one of Tolkien’s richest and most complex characters at its heart.”

Serkis’ comments are concerning especially the claim that he’s trying to present “something completely fresh and new for first timers to Middle-earth.” Now, one can argue that obviously if one is a first-timer to Middle-earth, it will be completely fresh and new to them. However, his comment sounds like corporate PR language ften used to justify injecting modern Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) elements into classic stories. Phrases like “presenting something completely fresh and new for first-timers to Middle-earth” suggest an intent to update Tolkien’s world for contemporary audiences, potentially by diversifying character portrayals, altering cultural representations, or incorporating progressive themes that weren’t part of the original lore.

Equally concerning is the implication that Serkis and the production team will add substantial original content to flesh out a story that is only briefly touched on in a short conversation between Gandalf and Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring. There is a huge risk in adding unnecessary subplots and characters similar to what Peter Jackson did in The Hobbit trilogy. Any additions can also undermine the thematic integrity of Tolkien’s work and could potentially act as a subversion of it as Prime Video has done with The Rings of Power.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time these concerns have been raised based on comments made by Boyens and Serkis.

Back in June 2025, Serkis told Collider that the movie is “going to be surprising, and yet very much part of the lore and the feel of the trilogy. The sensibility of it will feel, I think, close to that, and yet we're investigating in greater depth the character formerly known as Smeagol, but mostly known as Gollum.”

During an appearance at Duke City Comic Con, he also said, “it’s another investigation of the character from a slightly different point of view. So, no, I don’t tire of the character. The reason is I talk to so many people who feel affected by the character for so many different reasons and talking to them, about it kind of reinspires me as to aspects of the character that I can see relates to him. Whether they’ve suffered from being marginalized, suffered from addiction, depression or loneliness, there’s so many different parts of Smeaggel/Gollum’s persona that relates to people. I think that’s why people respond to the character so much, they all feel that perhaps there is a little bit of Gollum in themselves. Some people feel that bizarrely, so no I don’t tire of playing the character, which is a good thing.”

In 2024, while promoting the film and Serkis as the director, Boyens told Deadline, “Andy is going to have a really interesting take. It’s going to be his own take, because what we don’t want this film to be is just the fourth film in the trilogy. This film has to work in its own way. And that’s our job. That’s what we are going to have to be able to do. I know there’s plenty of people out there who will be like, oh no, why are they doing this? Why are they going back in? Well, that’s our job, to prove why we think that it’s a good idea.”

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