Somehow, Gandalf Returned
Plus a reminder about our upcoming Great Tales Read-Along and Giveaway!
We’re Going On An Adventure: Won’t You Join Us?
Hello all! Mae govannen!
It’s now just under a month until we embark together on a read-along through Tolkien’s Great Tales of Middle-earth!
Beginning on Hobbit Day, September 22, and continuing on through the rest of the year, we will read through Beren and Lúthien, The Children of Húrin, and The Fall of Gondolin.
And while the initial post each month will be free for all to read, subsequent posts where we discuss what we’re reading and share personal highlights, questions, etc. will be for paid subscribers (what I call the Jokien with Tolkien “Extended Edition”).
It’s normally $5 a month or $40 a year and to become a paid member and get full Discord access and bonus content every month, but I’m currently running a 22% sale now through the end of the month:
That’s just $4 a month or $31 a year!
And if you upgrade before August 31st, you’ll be automatically entered to win a copy of the boxed set of all three Great Tales!
Special thanks to Lorraine, Tarus, Patrick Q, Cheryl C, Michael K, Jodi M, Carrie R, and Diane G for upgrading to a paid subscription to join our read-along! You’re all entered in the giveaway to new paid subscribers!
Hit the button below to join us in the read-along and enter the boxed set giveaway:
More details about the giveaway can be found in the announcement post:
Are you a current paid subscriber who wants to enter the giveaway? I’m giving away a second boxed set to current Extended Edition members: just indicate you’re interested by commenting on this post for paid subscribers here to enter:
Somehow, Gandalf (and Frodo) Returned
Last week at the For Love of Fantasy event in London, Sir Ian McKellen shared a brief but potentially huge update on Andy Serkis’ upcoming The Hunt for Gollum movie:
I hear there’s going to be another movie set in Middle-earth, and it’s going to start filming in May. It’s going to be directed by Gollum and it’s all about Gollum.
We already knew that portion of what he shared, but what he added next concerns two characters not previously directly linked with The Hunt to Gollum until now:
I’ll tell you two secrets about the casting: there’s a character in the movie called Frodo, and there’s another character called Gandalf. Apart from that, my lips are sealed!
Now McKellen did not explicitly say that he and Elijah Wood, who each portrayed these characters in the early 2000s in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the 2010s in The Hobbit trilogy, but the implication seems pretty clear.
We’ve previously learned that Viggo Mortensen has been asked to return as Aragorn for the film and that Orlando Bloom would love to return as Legolas (if he did, they’d have to intentionally contrive a scene where Frodo can prove he knows Legolas’ name).
I’m honestly trying to reserve judgement here about whether or not this is a good idea…because my initial reaction is to be hesitant. Look, Viggo Mortensen is currently older than Ian McKellen was when The Return of the King was released. So there’s some ways they could make it work (Viggo as an older King Elessar telling the story of his hunt for Gollum to his son, perhaps?), but Sir Ian is currently 86 and I’m afraid there will be extensive use of AI to try to have anyone returning to play characters they played over twenty years ago look just like they did then. And that would be, well, let’s just not think about it too much.
We’ll see how it all continues to develop! And like I said, I’m not writing this off as a doomed endeavor from the start. But I sincerely hope that Andy Serkis, Peter Jackson, and all involved in steering this revival have the wisdom to know how to appropriately tie in nods to the franchises’ past without awaking a nameless terror as they delve too greedily and too deep in search of riches.
What do you think about the idea of Sir Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood returning for The Hunt for Gollum? Let me know in the comments!
📚 You can read more of my writing by reading my books! My latest is a collection of essays on The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and more of Tolkien’s works (and their adaptations). You can also find it and more of my books on Amazon or Gumroad
⚔️ If someone forwarded this email to you or you found it through social media or Google, I’d like to invite you to join 13,000+ subscribers in the Jokien with Tolkien community: Subscribe here and get a free gift just for joining!
🏹 Chosen as a Substack Featured Publication in 2023
🪓 Official merch available in the Jokien with Tolkien store
❌ All typos are precisely as intended
🔗 Links may be affiliate, which is a free-to-you way to support this newsletter where I earn a small commission on items you purchase
🗃️ Can’t wait till next week for more content? View the archive
🎯 Interested in writing a guest piece? Check out my submission guidelines. Want to sponsor a future issue of Jokien with Tolkien? E-mail me at jrrjokien@jrrjokien.com
How in the world are they going to make an entire movie about Gollum? It was weird enough seeing "The Hobbit" split into three films.
Sorry, but this sounds too much like the usual Hollywood idea of "milk it till you kill it."