The new Lord of the Rings saga has found its first member of the fellowship. Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, the New Zealander who broke out big in Peter Jackson’s 1994 film Heavenly Creatures, will play a lead role in the upcoming movie The Hunt for Gollum. Despite having dipped into a number of major franchises over the years, most recently breaking records for her work on James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, this marks her first step into Middle-earth and her first collaboration with Jackson in 32 years. Jackson will produce the film while Andy Serkis, who will again play Gollum, is set to direct.
Trades broke the news on Wednesday, noting that Ian McKellen was officially signed on to return as Gandalf. Elijah Wood has also suggested, while making the press rounds for Ready or Not 2, that he will appear in the film as well, once again playing Frodo Baggins. The one major name missing from the reports on Winslet’s inclusion: Viggo Mortensen, who starred in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy as Aragorn II, son of Arathorn II and Gilraen, aka the 16th Chieftain of the Dúnedain, aka the rightful heir to the thrones of Arnor and Gondor, aka Strider. Which is weird, because Aragorn might be the star of The Hunt for Gollum?
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Specific plotlines for Serkis’ film, penned by original trilogy screenwriter Philippa Boyens, remain under wraps, so no one can say for sure how essential Aragorn is to the drama. But based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s texts, and history expanded on by his son Christopher in Unfinished Tales, Aragorn sure does seem important to the story! If The Hunt for Gollum follows the source material, it’s likely set between The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy, and it would follow Aragorn as he hunts down Gollum for answers on the missing ring. I imagine you need Aragorn for that. Murmurs suggest that Serkis may recast the role, with names like Leo Woodall (Prime Target) popping up in rumor mills, but there aren’t too many cases where an iconic role was recast to much success. Let’s remember how that worked out for Solo: A Star Wars Story. (It didn’t.)
If they’re going to recast Aragorn, I have a suggestion: Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, the New Zealander who broke out big in Peter Jackson’s 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. They already got her to agree to the movie! Now just hand her a sword.
A few reasons why this is a brilliant idea:
- According to Deadline, it took some real coaxing to get Winslet to agree to be in the movie because it means relocating to New Zealand for six months. So why not throw her the meatiest role of them all as a payment for her time?
- The idea of prequelizing the 20-year-old Lord of the Rings trilogy with any of the same actors already has big Robert de Niro in The Irishman vibes, so why not completely unwire and rewire the logic of The Hunt for Gollum to divorce it completely from the original and give it a multiverse feel?
- “But Mortensen was 42 when he shot Fellowship of the Ring and Winslet is 50, so wouldn’t you recast with someone much younger????” Did you not hear me when I said Winslet is an absolute beast? And did you see her on Mare of Easttown? The Hunt for Gollum is just Mare of Easttown with Smeagol.
Considering that there aren’t a ton of meaningful female characters populating Tolkien’s Middle-earth lore, and with Galadriel off the table, it’s likely Winslet’s been cast as some new Mirkwood elf. I’d hope at least she could play a villain, maybe some unhooded Nazgûl? Let the speculation begin. But personally, I’m rooting for a far-out left-turn reveal here. If Mortensen is truly out — and he certainly doesn’t seem in at the moment, as The Hunt for Gollum approaches a May start date for production — then Winslet is as formidable a replacement as they come. The Reddit threads would be a horror show, but the casting would be amazing.
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