Kate Winslet Joins ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum’

Warner Bros.’ upcoming “Lord of the Rings” spinoff film “The Hunt for Gollum” has landed a major cast addition as Kate Winslet will play a lead role in the film directed by and starring Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in the original “Lord of the Rings” films from 2001 to 2003.

Set at the beginning stages of “The Fellowship of the Ring” before Frodo Baggins begins his fateful quest to Mount Doom, “The Hunt for Gollum” follows future Fellowship member and true King of Gondor Aragorn, then known simply as a forest ranger named Strider, as Gandalf enlists him in the wizard’s quest to find Gollum before Sauron can find him and torture him into revealing where the One Ring is hidden.

Ian McKellen is set to once again play Gandalf, as he did in Peter Jackson’s “LOTR” trilogy and “The Hobbit” trilogy. In an interview with The Times UK, Elijah Wood also revealed that there is a “good chance” he is set to return as Frodo.

“I’m not able to officially say anything until it’s announced, but I will say I’m thrilled with the prospect of another film,” Wood said. “It’s always a little nerve-racking when people talk about new movies for a world like Middle-Earth. Everyone gets a little protective and hopes it retains its level of integrity, but this story is fun, thrilling. There is a genuine feeling of getting the band back together. I’m just excited.”

Jackson will serve as a producer on “The Hunt for Gollum” alongside Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens, who will also write the script as they did for the “LOTR” trilogy. Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou are also writers on the film with Zane Weiner producing. Filming is set to begin in New Zealand this May.

Winslet, who won an Academy Award in 2009 for “The Reader,” is very familiar with blockbuster filmmaking thanks to her work with James Cameron, having starred in his famed “Titanic” as well as in “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

Winslet is repped by United Agents. Her casting was first reported by Deadline.

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