MarketPR
The casting debate around Middle-earth is back in focus.
Director Andy Serkis, who also portrays Gollum, told the BBC that "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum" will not pursue diversity hiring as an exercise in box-ticking, framing the approach as one that considers casting diversity only "where relevant." The film is expected to premiere in December 2027, positioned on the timeline between the "Hobbit" trilogy and "The Fellowship of the Ring." Serkis rooted his position in the source material.
Tolkien's universe drew heavily from Norse mythology, he told the BBC, and that context shapes decisions about who inhabits it.
He began characterizing the Shire as very white before trailing off, then elaborated that its residents are insular by temperament: not concerned with the world beyond their borders and unwelcoming to those who try to enter.
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