New Lord Of The Rings Movie's Connection To Rings Of Power Addressed By Series Creator

Nov 05, 2026 - 02:09

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New Lord Of The Rings Movie's Connection To Rings Of Power Addressed By Series Creator

Close-up of Gollum smiling in The Lord of the Rings

Published Nov 4, 2026, 5:48 PM EST

EXCLUSIVE: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and its connection to The Hunt for Gollum is clarified.

The fantasy franchise has two major releases on the way, with season 3 of the Prime Video series premiering on November 11 and The Hunt for Gollum movie releasing in theaters on December 17, 2027. Despite being part of the same franchise, they are set in completely different parts of the Middle-earth timeline and the rights are divided as well, with New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. having the movies and Amazon having television.

In an interview with ScreenRant's Liam Crowley, The Rings of Power co-creator and co-showrunner Patrick McKay was asked if the show is completely separate and features no connections to The Hunt for Gollum. McKay clarified that "there is room in Middle-earth for everybody," is looking forward to the upcoming film, and sees it as being "in conversation" with the series as opposed to having any kind of direct connections. Check out his comments below:

ScreenRant: I feel like this is an obvious question, but I still want to address it. The Hunt for Gollum comes out next December. I know the rights between TV and film are at different studios. Fair to say that these are completely separate? There's no connection?

ScreenRant: There is room in Middle-earth for everybody, and we're fans of those films, and we hope it's great.

Liam Crowley: Yeah. Canonically, I'd like to think that they are companion pieces, even if they don't share the same actors.

Patrick McKay: So many talented artists in so many mediums over 75 years have interpreted this material, painted or drawn it, or put it in a song or made it into a film or an animated film. I think to sit on a shelf with all those other works, we are only too delighted for that to be our fate.

ScreenRant: I look at it the same way as when you look at war films, like Dunkirk and Oppenheimer. They are not necessarily sequels to one another, but they're both from Christopher Nolan.

Patrick McKay: They're in conversation with one another, yeah.

While they are part of the same universe, McKay's remarks confirm that The Rings of Power and The Hunt for Gollum are completely separate projects, joining a long line of various interpretations over 75 years outside J.R.R Tolkien's writings. Along with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, there is the animated 1977 The Hobbit film, the animated 1978 The Lord of the Rings movie, and numerous video game, stage production, and radio series adaptations.

The Rings of Power is set during the Second Age of Middle-earth while The Hunt for Gollum takes place thousands of years later in the Third Age, as Gandalf and Aragorn search for the titular character before Sauron's minions can find him. Serkis reprises the role of Gollum and directs, while Jackson produces. Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, and Lee Pace are respectively back as Gandalf, Frodo Baggins, and Thranduil, while newcomers to the franchise include Jamie Dornan as Strider/Aragorn, Kate Winslet as Marigold, Leo Woodall as Halvard, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Seren.

ChronoLogic

Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order.

As for The Rings of Power season 3 story, which begins five years after the last season, Sauron (Charlie Vickers) is in the process of forging the One Ring as his armies conquer Middle-earth. Gandalf (Daniel Weyman), Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), Celeborn (Jamie Campbell Bower), Durin IV (Owain Arthur), Disa (Sophia Nomvete), and an Orc named Marnûkh who has defected from Sauron's forces are among those resisting against the villain. Meanwhile, a civil war is about to break out in the island kingdom of Númenor.

McKay and his fellow co-creator and co-showrunner J.D. Payne have previously discussed The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 being a new entry point into the series given the five-year time jump and going straight into the War of the Elves and Sauron. Between this season and The Hunt for Gollum, the franchise has plenty of major releases in the near future, although they are separate stories and one does not need to be watched to understand or enjoy the other.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 3 begins with a four-episode premiere on November 11 on Prime Video. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum releases in theaters on December 17, 2027.