Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings Franchise Is Breaking The Formula That Defined It

As The Lord of the Rings prepares to enter a new era following the enormous success of Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and The Hobbit saga, it seems as though the next era of Middle-earth stories is moving in a different direction. While J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels became enormously popular in the decades shortly after first being published, there wasn’t a true and worthy adaptation until Peter Jackson’s epic feature films from the early 2000s.

Far and away, these projects managed to capture the magic and vitality of Tolkien’s expansive world, and put the story on an epic stage that has continued to stand out as one of the most popular and enduring fantasy franchises on the big screen. Since then, Jackson also returned to direct a prequel trilogy, depicting the earlier adventures of Bilbo Baggins.

In addition, the world of this franchise has been expanded into animated stories, with The War of the Rohirrim, and the ongoing live-action TV series, The Rings of Power. However, after so many epic narratives, it seems as though the franchise is changing gears for Andy Serkis’ The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.

The Hunt For Gollum Is Breaking LOTR’s Traditional Movie Format

Peter Jackson is an acclaimed director who appears to have an enormous talent for breaking epic stories to the big screen. Between his work on The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and King Kong, it’s clear that he knows how to bring these monumental stories to a format where diverse audiences can enjoy, and that set a tone for TLotR films up to this point.

In the original trilogy, the narrative revolves around a quest that takes the central heroes on an incredible journey across distant lands before finally completing their mission. Likewise, The Hobbit trilogy saw Bilbo Baggins embark on a quest to help the dwarves reclaim the Lonely Mountain, and come face to face with the powerful dragon, Smaug. In both instances, the story revolves around an epic quest.

However, The Hunt for Gollum appears to be breaking tradition as the story zooms in on one smaller story that happens inside the larger narrative. Because the story is set between when Bilbo leaves the Shire after his birthday party in The Fellowship of the Rings and the journey to Moria, the stakes of the story aren’t all that high, because audiences know how it ends.

The story seems to be more concerned with exploring how Aragorn’s mission to find Gollum, and Gollum’s subsequent escape, shapes and defines these characters, alongside returning characters like Gandalf, and a handful of new additions who help to flesh out these stories even more.

The Hunt For Gollum’s Format Change Is Either Genius Or Folly

It is often the case with fantasy, and certainly fantasy that is on the level and scale that Tolkien writes it, to be absolutely enormous in scale. These stories are so much bigger and more dense than a typical drama or a comedy. As a result, it makes sense that up to this point, the world of Middle-earth has been explored in the context of epic quests rather than smaller character-focused stories.

Now, with a change in the format, it does seem likely that some fans of the original trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy may find The Hunt for Gollum to be less engaging, but it’s also possible that this shift could work in the film’s favor. Despite the scale of these films, audiences have still formed strong connections to the characters within, even repugnant ones like Gollum.

Zooming in to focus on central characters like Aragorn, Gandalf, and Gollum will certainly be a change, but it could also be exactly what the franchise needs to move into a new era and reignite the excitement for new and old audiences who find the world of Middle-earth fascinating.

And on that note, it isn’t just The Hunt for Gollum that is adhering to this new formula, as the world of The Lord of the Rings continues to evolve decades after Tolkien’s novels, and the movies that brought these stories to life for so many people.

Stephen Colbert’s Shadow Of The Past Movie Is Also A Shift In LOTR’s Usual Format

Stephen Colbert, famous for his role as the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, has long been an outspoken and dedicated fan of Tolkien and all things Middle-earth. And now, Colbert will actively take a role in shaping the future of these stories after having co-written the script for The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, the first project to explore the world and these characters after the events of the original trilogy.

In Shadow of the Past, Sam, Merry, and Pippin, three of the hobbits who adventured alongside Frodo Baggins to destroy The One Ring, dig deeper into their adventure following the death of their friend. They are also joined by Sam’s daughter, who appears to be a central part of the narrative and is pushing the story forward.

While the film is likely to retrace the steps of the previous films and use flashbacks and other tools to expand on the original narrative, it seems that this film is also focused on characters, with the small group of hobbits once again taking center stage. Evidently, it seems that if TLotR franchise is going to continue into the future, the stories need to evolve.

And since the earlier trilogies have covered an enormous span of time, it makes even more sense for new entries to avoid trying to create some new sprawling event that could ultimately clash with what has come before. Instead, the choice to make these projects more introspective and focused opens the door for more exploration and experimentation within what is already a very well-developed and established world.

All things considered, there is hope for a bright future for The Lord of the Rings as a still-growing franchise, and for these new stories as they attempt to add depth and richness to the characters that inhabit one of the most fully-realized worlds in fiction. But everything could hinge on how successful The Hunt for Gollum is in introducing this new format.

Release Date

December 17, 2027

Writers

Arty Papageorgiou, Phoebe Gittins, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, J.R.R. Tolkien