Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would be making new Lord of the Rings movies, and now we have thoughts from the original Frodo actor Elijah Wood. In an interview with GQ, the actor gave his mixed reaction, expressing how he is “surprised,” “fascinated,” and “excited,” and his hopes that it is coming from the right place and not all about the mountain of cash that will come in from more of the beloved fantasy IP.
When it comes to new Lord of the Rings movies, Elijah Wood is looking right at the executives who want the money that would pour into their pockets. He talked about the complexities as he acknowledged how “great art can come from commerce” and how “those two things are not mutually exclusive.” It is all about the goal and “enthusiasm” of whoever pens the scripts and helms the films. Nobody has been attached to the projects so far.
“Obviously, at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money,” he said. “But Lord of the Rings didn’t come out of that place. It came out of a passion for these books and wanting to see them realized. And I hope that that is ultimately what will drive everything forward with whatever these subsequent movies are. I just hope that it’s the same motivating factor at its core, whenever they hire a screenwriter and a filmmaker.”
Elijah Wood talks about the new Lord of the Rings movies
The fantasy franchise is currently hot right now. Video games, like Gollum, are in development. On the TV side, Amazon has pushed for season 2 of The Rings of Power. This all stems from the original adaptions of the beloved books by Peter Jackson. His trilogy grossed almost $3 billion; with his Hobbit films, it is over $5 billion. The original trilogy holds 17 Oscars out of 30 nominations.
While Elijah Wood is not involved in the new Lord of the Rings films, Jackson has confirmed that he and his collaborators, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, are “in the loop.” What direction this will take is unknown as we currently have a prequel with Rings of Power, which looks at a time before the rings were created.
Return of the King is currently in theaters for its 20th anniversary. It has put out more dates, so you have a greater chance of catching it once again on the big screen.