Leo Woodall Says It’s a ‘Boyhood Dream’ to Join “Lord of the Rings” Franchise with“ The Hunt for Gollum ”(Exclusive)

Rebecca Aizin, Kimberlee SpeakmanMon, May 25, 2026 at 5:45 PM UTC

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Leo Woodall attends the "Tuner" New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square 13 on May 20, 2026 in New York City
Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty -

Leo Woodall spoke to PEOPLE at the New York premiere of Tuner on May 20 about joining The Lord of the Rings franchise

He will play Halvard, a new character created for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

The movie will feature returning stars Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis alongside Jamie Dornan and Kate Winslet

Leo Woodall's rising star is taking him to Middle-earth.

Warner Bros. announced the Tuner actor's casting in The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum at CinemaCon in April, alongside Jamie Dornan and Kate Winslet.

"It means everything. It's a boyhood dream for me," Woodall, 29, told PEOPLE of joining the iconic franchise at the New York premiere of Tuner, in which he stars as a piano tuner alongside Dustin Hoffman. "I watched it as a kid and I've seen it a million times, so to be part of it now is incredible."

Though Woodall said he "can't tease anything," his role as Halvard has been confirmed. The character isn't part of J.R.R. Tolkien's book series and is original to the movie, which will be released in theaters in 2027.

Leo Woodall attends the "Tuner" screening during the 69th BFI London Film Festival at the BFI Southbank on October 09, 2025
Credit: Joe Maher/Getty for BFI

The Hunt for Gollum will also see Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis reprise their roles as Gandalf, Frodo Baggins and Gollum/Sméagol, respectively, while Dornan takes over the role of Strider, or Aragorn, from Viggo Mortensen, who played the character in the original series. Winslet will play Marigold.

News of the movie was first announced in May 2024, with Serkis set to direct and original trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson to produce. In 2025, Serkis confirmed that filming would take place in New Zealand, where the original movies were shot, in 2026.

Serkis told ScreenRant in April 2026 the movie takes place between the prequel stories in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and will be "a physical hunt for [Gollum,] but also a psychological hunt for himself."

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Andy Serkis as Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings - The Return Of The King
Credit: New Line/Kobal/Shutterstock

The Hunt for Gollum isn't the only LOTR movie in production. Former late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert announced in March 2026 that he is writing a new movie that he and his son, Peter Colbert, pitched to Jackson two years ago.

He said at the time that the movie will focus on chapters in the Fellowship of the Ring book that didn't make it into the movie of the same name.

“It's, basically, the chapter is ‘Three Is Company' through ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs,' and I thought, ‘Oh wait, maybe that could be its own story that could fit into the larger story? Could we make something that was completely faithful to the books, while also being completely faithful to the movies that you guys had already made?' ” Colbert said in the announcement.

He continued, “And I started talking it over with my son, Peter, who is also a screenwriter, and we worked out what we thought would work, especially as a framing device for that story.”

A release date has not yet been set for Colbert's movie, but it will arrive after The Hunt for Gollum.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will release in theaters on Dec. 17, 2027.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”