April 15 (UPI) — Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have unveiled the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.
The studios announced the casting Tuesday during the Warner Bros. presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
New faces to the franchise include Jamie Dornan (50 Shades of Grey) as the Dúnedain ranger Strider, aka Aragorn, and Leo Woodall (The White Lotus Season 2) as another Dúnedain named Halvard. Viggo Mortensen played Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen will reprise their Lord of the Rings characters, the hobbit Frodo Baggins and the wizard Gandalf, while Lee Pace will return as his Hobbit character, the elf Thranduil.
Kate Winslet, who was previously reported to join the franchise, will play the character Marigol.
The Hunt for Gollum is directed by and will star Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies. The new film takes place before the Lord of the Rings trilogy and follows Aragorn and Gandalf as they search for Gollum and his mysterious ring.
The Hunt for Gollum opens in theaters in December 2027.
Also in development is a new Lord of the Rings film co-written by Late Show host and avid Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert.