The long-awaited moment has finally arrived! Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema unveiled on Thursday that Andy Serkis' highly anticipated film, "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum," will grace theater screens on December 17, 2027. Currently, it enjoys a sole occupancy of the lucrative year-end release window, but this exclusive status is poised to shift as other studios fill in their schedules.
Reuniting to produce two fresh Middle-earth adventures from J.R.R. Tolkien's imagination for New Line, owned by Warners, are Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens – the Oscar-winning trio behind the iconic "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies. Zane Weiner joins them as a producer. Andy Serkis not only helms "Gollum" but also stars in the titular role, with Walsh and Boyens crafting the screenplay alongside Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The director for the second film remains under wraps.
Thursday also brought delightful news for fans of the "Evil Dead" franchise. In a joint announcement, New Line confirmed that the next chapter in the supernatural horror saga is officially greenlit, riding on the immense success of "Evil Dead Rise," which grossed over $147 million worldwide at the box office in 2023, unadjusted for inflation.
New Line will co-finance this latest installment with Sony Pictures and has cast Souheila Yacoub in the lead role. Scheduled for a North American theatrical release on July 24, 2026, Yacoub is represented by Sugar23.
The film is produced by franchise stalwart Rob Tapert and horror legend Sam Raimi, the creator of the series. Romel Adam, Jose Canas, and Lee Cronin serve as executive producers, alongside cult icon "Ash" Bruce Campbell. Warners will manage domestic distribution, while Sony will handle overseas distribution, with exceptions for select markets. Canal Plus will distribute in the UK, and Metropolitan in France.
In a third release date announcement, Warners has set October 23, 2026, as the global release date for M. Night Shyamalan's "Remain." Jake Gyllenhaal will star in this supernatural romantic thriller alongside Phoebe Dynevor and Ashley Walters, based on an original story co-created in an unprecedented partnership between Shyamalan and bestselling novelist Nicholas Sparks.
Shyamalan and Sparks are independently penning a screenplay and a novel, respectively, inspired by the same original love story. Sparks' novel, titled "Remain," will hit bookstores on October 7, 2025. Producers of "Remain" include Shyamalan and Ashwin Rajan through their Blinding Edge Pictures, along with Marc Bienstock and Sparks' long-time producing partner Theresa Park, who will executive produce the film.
