This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. To mark the anniversary, Empire magazine dedicated a series of materials, including an interview with Peter Jackson, and cinemas are preparing to re-release the entire trilogy.
Against this background, the director stated that he does not plan to release an "extended-extended" version of the films. According to him, such a release would only disappoint viewers, as it would differ from existing versions by only a few seconds.
"Are there magnificent scenes that we never used? The answer is no. There are individual fragments, probably. But if we made an extended version, or whatever it will be called, it would be a disappointment. It would be an extended version with a few extra seconds of something; it wouldn't be worth doing."
At the same time, the director admitted that he would like to use unreleased materials differently — in the format of a documentary about the creation of the trilogy. However, according to him, the project is too large, and so far he has not been able to convince Warner Bros. to give it the green light.
Interestingly, one of these "pieces" still turned into a full-fledged story. Back in the early 2000s, commenting on the extended edition of "The Fellowship of the Ring", Jackson said that he dreamed of including scenes in the film where Gandalf and Aragorn track down Gollum. The plot could not be fit into the structure of the picture — but a quarter of a century later it formed the basis of a new project.
This story inspired "The Hunt for Gollum" — a new Warner Bros. film directed by Andy Serkis. He, as before, will play Gollum. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens returned to work on the film, and Jackson is involved in the project as a producer. Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood will reappear in their roles, and the image of Aragorn will be rethought with a new actor.
The premiere of "The Hunt for Gollum" is scheduled for December 17, 2027.