Next Lord of the Rings Movie's First Set Photos Feature the Return of a Familiar Face

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Published Sep 23, 2026, 10:31 AM EDT

Austin Manchester is a writer and editor living in New York City. At Polygon, he covers gaming and entertainment news, reviews new video games, interviews behind-the-scenes talent, and more. He enjoys discovering hidden gems and sharing them with Polygon's audience. Previously, he was the gaming editor for AIPT Comics and has written for other outlets like XDA, How-To Geek, and The List.

He enjoys soulslikes, character-driven RPGs, and third-person shooters plucked straight out of the Xbox 360 era. He also likes to flex his non-video game nerdy knowledge sometimes, whether that's explaining who's who in the new Wolverine game or recommending a comic book series about a sentient sword.

Happy Hobbit Day

Filming is well underway for the next Lord of the Rings movie, due out next year. Earlier in the summer, fans got their first behind-the-scenes look at the production of The Hunt for Gollum with a short teaser of director and star Andy Serkis getting into character while wearing his iconic motion-capture suit. On Wednesday, Warner Bros. shared set photos of the film, transporting fans back to one of the series' most beloved locations: the Shire.

The set photos, first shared on TikTok, showcase plenty of hobbits milling about their home of the Shire, which is just as beautiful and charming as it was in the first Lord of the Rings movie 25 years ago. Serkis directs a camera, giant pumpkins are wheeled in on a cart, and some hobbits watch cute ducks in a pond. It's all very idyllic, and very green. Warner Bros. shared the behind-the-scenes look to celebrate Hobbit Day, which falls on Sept. 22, Frodo and Bilbo Baggins' birthday.

The final photo is the most notable. It shows the back of a hobbit, and we can only presume that's Frodo heading into his hobbit hole. Like Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Serkis as Gollum, Elijah Wood is reprising his role as Frodo for the upcoming prequel film. While Wood still looks rather young at 45 years old, digital de-aging effects will be used to make him look closer to his younger self from decades ago.

The returning cast members from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy will be joined by Kate Winslet as Marigol, Anya Taylor-Joy as the brand-new character Seren, Jamie Dornan as Strider (Aragorn), and Leo Woodall as Halvard. Lee Pace will also reprise his role as Thranduil from the 2010s The Hobbit films.

The Hunt for Gollum will likely cover the time between Bilbo’s 111th birthday and Gandalf’s return to the Shire, covered in the first chapters of Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring but cut from the 2001 film. Gandalf enlisted Aragorn to track down Gollum so he could learn where Bilbo’s ring came from and whether it was actually the One Ring that Sauron was searching for.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is due in theaters on Dec. 17, 2027, the same day Marvel Studios' Avengers: Secret Wars is supposed to be released. If those release dates hold, we'll have another Barbenheimer-style double feature on our hands, similar to this year's "Dunesday" matchup between Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday.

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