Jamie Dornan is set to play the character of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, Warner Bros has revealed.
Dornan steps into a role that Viggo Mortensen made his own since first playing it in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The recasting was announced during the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Dornan will be credited as Strider, the alias Aragorn uses when he is first introduced in The Fellowship of the Ring.
In March, Knight Edge Media speculated that White Lotus actor Leo Woodall would take on the role. The speculation can rest now, with Warner Bros confirming Woodall is indeed joining the cast but as Halvard, a Dúnedain who joins Strider on the hunt.
Kate Winslet joins as Marigol, matriarch of the Stoors.
Several actors from the earlier films will return, including Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins. Lee Pace reprises his role as Thranduil.
McKellan teased at the For the Love of Fantasy event in London last year that “there’s a character in the movie called Frodo and there’s a character in the movie called Gandalf”. Earlier this year, Wood refused to “confirm nor deny” McKellan’s spoiler, only saying that a “wizard is to be trusted”.
The Hunt for Gollum is directed by Andy Serkis and produced by Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson.
Serkis, who played Gollum in the original trilogy as well as in The Hobbit, will once again play the title character using motion capture technology.
Set between The Hobbit trilogy and The Fellowship of the Ring, the new movie follows Aragorn as he attempts to track down Gollum before the creature can reveal the location of the One Ring to Sauron.
The screenplay is written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, writers of the original trilogy, alongside Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou.
“Across two trilogies, a mark of a Middle-earth film has always been the formidable array of talent brought to bear in every role. The Hunt for Gollum continues in that tradition, and I’m delighted to announce the return of two of Middle-earth’s most beloved performers, alongside some exceptionally talented new additions to Tolkien’s world,” Serkis said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In May 2024, Mortensen told GQ he was not aware of the story and would only return if he fit the character in terms of “the age I am now and so forth”.
“I would only do it if I was right for the character,” the actor said. “It would be silly to do it otherwise.”
In June the same year, he told The Hollywood Reporter he would consider returning if it made sense for the script. “The script is the most important thing to me unless I’m broke, I have no money and I’m lucky to get any job. So it depends,” he said.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released from 2001 to 2003 and The Hobbit trilogy followed between 2012 and 2014.
The trilogies were massively successful, each raking in around $2.9bn worldwide at the box office.
In October 2025, screenwriter Philippa Boyens told Empire The Hunt For Gollum was “quite an intense story, which falls after the birthday party of Bilbo and before the Mines Of Moria”. “It is a specific chunk of an incredible untold story, told through the perspective of this incredible creature,” he added.
The Hunt for Gollum is set to be released on 17 December 2027.
Alec Baldwin says he ‘doesn’t want to work anymore’ after Rust shooting death
Tom Holland says Spider-Man: Brand New Day is ‘most emotional yet’
More than 1000 Hollywood stars declare ‘opposition’ to Paramount Warner Bros merger
Loyle Carner on his transition into acting: ‘I was just really nervous’
Netflix scraps Millie Bobby Brown movie after actor exits over creative differences
John Nolan death: Batman Begins actor and uncle of Christopher Nolan dies aged 87
