Summary
- I'm so done with Gollum.
- Despite being a well known little freak, few people actually like him, making the movie a strange idea.
- We really should have learned from the Gollum game not to do this again.
I am not a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Lord of the Rings fan. We have fans to various degrees at TheGamer, ranging from 'yeah, I like Lord of the Rings' to 'love it, I've seen every movie', to 'here is an in-depth history to how the Moomins changed the c🔯ourse of Tolkien’s writing'. I don't fall into any of these camps. I've seen the movies and thought they were okay, played the games and thought the same, and never spent a second outside of those moments thinking about Lord of the Rings. So I realise I am not the most qualified person to complain about this. But please, why is everyone so obsessed with Gollum?
When I say everyone, I suppose I more accurately mean 'the decision makers'. We're getting a new Gollum movie coming 2026, hot on the heels of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the disastrous Gollum video game, a bona fide contender for the worst game ever mad🧸e. Gollum is a well known character from the series, and highly recognisable due to being a weird little freak, but does anyone actually care? I'm just not sure I see what the appeal is.
What Gollum Story Is Even Left To Tell?
As someone who's not a fan, the fact that I've heard of Gollum isn't going to get me into the theatre. However, if there was a movie that sounded interesting with some king or knight or tragic orc I've never heard of, I'd be into it because that would hold the promise of an interesting story. What is there about Gollum's story that executives believe is so universally appealing?
I know this opinion is not unique to me as an outsider. When the film was revealed, there was a collective groan and eyeroll from far more invested fans that it was Gollum, once more, who was getting the spotlight. So you've got a character that actual fans don't want to see more of, and who lacks the appeal to pull in general audiences too. It's like making 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a whole Ice Age movie about the꧑ sq꧙uirrel rat - there's just nowhere to go with it, even if we've all heard of him.
I'm sure there is some nuance to Gollum that I'm unaware of. The basic story, that he's so corrupted by the power of the ring that he abandons everything else in life, thus being unable to fully take advantage of said power, is an excellent arc, and exactly the sort of rich irony that the best fantasy works are full of. But that story already runs alongside the actual story of Lord of the Rings which has been told across three movies and then three more for good measure. We've seen this story before.
Movies Are Running Out Of Ideas
This is not an issue specific to Gollum. We're living in an age of prequels, sequels, and requels, where ideas are ten times more likely to be greenlit if they attach an already established franchise or character. Sometimes this leads to fantastic results - Wonka and Scream were both successful examples of studios building ideas around properties they already own. But then you look at the motions Indiana Jones is being put through, the repeated blandness of the Disney live-action remakes, the stuttering cogs of the Marvel machine, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:everything about The Flash, Pixar flopping with Lightyear, and a million more I could list here, ♋and realise the hits are the exceptions.
I have no idea if the movie will be any good - I would have turned my nose up at a Wonka prequel, but may change my tune if Timothee Chalamet is cast as Gollum. But it’s telling that for a fanbase as large as The Lord of the Rings, and with the series so dense and far-flung, the project that moves forward is of a strange little goblin best known🤡 from memes that fans want nothing to do with. There is huge demand for more LOTR movies, but Gollum feels like an option taken because it sounds so safe that it turns out to be incredibly risky.
Ironically, a game was probably the best chance to explore Gollum, with the choices allowing players to consider which voice in his head to follow and how the power takes over him. The game attempted that, but like everything it tried, failed horribly and th🍨e once fertile earth for making a Gollum game is now thoroughly scorched.
If this movie flops, the same might be true of Gollum on the big screen. I hope it doesn't, because what's the point in hoping for a movie to be bad, but I also hope we see different sorts of stories in the future. If I'm doomed to have The Lord of the Rings in theatres and on television for the rest of my life - and it feels like I am - can they at least be about someone more interesting than Gollum?
Why Lord Of The Rings: ꦐGollum Should Win Game Of The Year
In a year of great games,ꦍ does Gollum represent the true gaming industry more than anyone else?
