Update: As it turns out, the original report from scooper DanielRPK wasn’t completely correct. While Leo Woodall will star in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, he isn’t playing Aragorn but has been cast as Halvard. Instead, Fifty Shades of Grey‘s Jamie Dornan will replace Viggo Mortensen as Strider (aka Aragorn) in the film.
Original Article: When Viggo Mortensen first appeared as Aragorn in 2001’s The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, he was just 42 and looked like a middle-aged man who had spent years sleeping in forests and fighting orcs. Two decades later, Warner Bros. is preparing to return to Middle-earth with The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. The only problem is that Aragorn still needs to look like he’s in his 30s in the movie, but Mortensen is now 66 years old. His age forced the studio into two options: ask Mortensen to return and try to make him look younger using de-ageing tech, or find a younger actor to take his place and carry the sword moving forward.
Yes, they tried the first option but, unfortunately, it didn’t quite work.
Philippa Boyens, one of the writers on The Hunt for Gollum, said the team had been speaking with Mortensen for a while about returning to the role. “Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively, and we are at a very early stage,” she said. “I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy has spoken to him, Peter has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo.”
Mortensen ultimately had to decline and step away from his most famous role. Which means Aragorn, one of everyone’s favourite Lord of the Rings characters, is getting recast.
Originally, industry insider DanielRPK reported that 29-year-old British actor Leo Woodall was in talks to play the younger version of the character in The Hunt for Gollum. If you’ve heard his name before, it’s because you’ve seen Woodall in Tom Holland’s Cherry in 2021, and then in Season 2 of HBO’s The White Lotus. He then got roles in Nuremberg, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, and the thriller series Prime Target. Right now you can also catch him opposite Rachel Weisz in Netflix’s Vladimir.
The Hunt for Gollum sits in an interesting slice of Tolkien’s timeline. The story unfolds shortly before Frodo leaves the Shire, when Gandalf sends Aragorn hunting for the slippery creature who once held the One Ring. It fills the narrative gap between Bilbo’s quiet retirement and the chaos that kicks off The Fellowship of the Ring.
Production is targeting May in New Zealand with a planned release date of December 17, 2027. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Kate Winslet and Andy Serkis are all set to return. Andy Serkis also directs.
RELATED: The Hunt for Gollum Might Kick Off a Whole New Lord of the Rings Trilogy
