Warner Bros. recently made the big announcement that the next Lord of the Rings the upcoming film will have a title The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum and will be directed by Andy Serkis and produced by Peter Jackson.
It was later announced that a 15-year-old fan film was shut down by the studio with a copyright hold on YouTube. The fan film is a non-profit project entitled The Hunt for Gollum.
Not long after, the short film was back up and running on YouTube and you can watch it below!
The short film’s story follows the Heir of Isildur; the “greatest hunter and traveler of Middle-earth” as he sets out to find the creature Gollum. The creature must be found to uncover the truth about the Ring and to protect the future Ringbearer.
The film, which has had 13 million views, was created by Chris Bouchard, who released the following statement on Facebook: “We’re all pretty excited here about Warner Bros.’ announcement that they’re making an adaptation of The Hunt for Gollum starring Andy Serkis and Peter Jackson!
He added: “[Edit seems our short got blocked from YouTube, hope temporarily – we’re enquiring in case it can be reinstated as it’s clearly a non profit homage/fan effort]”, wrote the production.”
He continued: “We were so inspired by how they imagined Middle Earth (and Gollum) that we took 2 years to make our micro-budget film version as a labor of love.
“It’s certainly possible to achieve a lot more than we could with Gollum kept off screen as the voice in a sack for most of our film. After all, with our budget we were only able to do one full CGI shot of Gollum (the last shot of the film).
“Our independent film effort is still lurking on YouTube for wanderers who aren’t lost or for those looking… Get excited for what the new film will be!”
It’s obvious why the video was initially taken down, but it’s great to see that it’s back in the running for people to watch.
This is truly a great fan film worth checking out!
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
