A few days ago, a new “Lord of the Rings” film was announced, focusing on Gollum. However, already 15 years prior, fans released a very similar film on YouTube. This has now led to legal issues.
What film is it about? The film studio Warner Bros. announced a new feature film in the “Lord of the Rings” universe a few days ago. Following the Amazon series “The Rings of Power”, whose second season has already been announced, “The Hunt for Gollum” will open another chapter in the Middle-earth saga.
We don’t know much about the upcoming film yet. Only that the story will revolve around Gollum. Presumably, the film acts as a prologue to “The Fellowship of the Ring,” and tells how different characters and factions are hunting the creature Gollum. His escape will likely also take him to Mordor, where he is captured by Sauron’s minions.
Once again, Peter Jackson is on board as producer, who previously directed the three main films and the Hobbit films. This time, none other than Andy Serkis, who played Gollum back then, takes the director’s chair.
Curiously, there has already been a film with a similar premise available for free on YouTube for 15 years.
Fans had the same idea 15 years ago
What is this fan film about? A group of enthusiastic fans of Tolkien’s works filmed a movie about Gollum 15 years ago. The budget was accordingly small, only about 3,000 British pounds (as of 2009).
Filming took place in Wales, and only six actors appeared on screen. They portrayed well-known characters such as Aragorn, Gandalf, and Arwen. An additional 160 volunteers supported the project, either as extras or by assisting behind the scenes.
In the end, a 39-minute film was produced, aptly named “The Hunt for Gollum”.
You can watch the film here:
If you’ve been paying attention, you might have noticed that both the fan project and the official film bear the exact same title. But that’s not the only curious aspect of this story.
After the fan film had existed on YouTube for several years and garnered 13 million views during that time, the creative minds behind it have now, in 2024, encountered legal problems.
What happened? Only a few hours after the announcement of the official Gollum film, the fan project was taken down on YouTube. The reason: The video was said to contain content from Warner Bros. Entertainment and was removed from the platform due to copyright infringement.
As expected, there was a great outcry in the community. It was met with misunderstanding that Warner would block the project of passionate fans while simultaneously announcing a film with the same title and premise.
However, the story had a happy ending. The fan film is now back online and can be viewed without restrictions. It remains to be seen how the official film will differ from it. We will know in 2026 when “The Hunt for Gollum” hits theaters. The iconic character, however, did not bring luck to everyone: For a German game developer, their Gollum game was a major flop.
