There are new Lord of the Rings movies on the way from producer Peter Jackson and so, as one might expect, fans have many questions. One of the big ones is whether the Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum cast will include any members of the original trilogy cast. Viggo Mortensen says it’s far too early for him to say he might return as Aragorn, but he says two things could compel him to return: a great script or a desperate need for a job.
The Lord of the Rings cast is being very honest when asked this question. Ian McKellen’s answer to playing Gandalf again amounted to “If I’m not dead”. When THR asked the question of Viggo Mortensen, he said he had no idea if he would or could return, as he had seen no script. Certainly, if the role is a good one, the actor will be interested, but he also admitted that if the script wasn’t good, he might still return, if he happened to need the money. Mortensen said…
I haven’t read a script. So I don’t know. The script is the most important thing to me unless I’m broke, I have no money and I’m lucky to get any job. So it depends.
For the record, Viggo Mortensen said that he hasn’t been in a state where he needed to take a job for the money for several years, so it’s less likely that particular state of affairs will occur, but certainly, it’s not impossible.
At this point it’s very early in production for Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, the title itself is only a working title and may change before things are said and done. We assume the movie will be set between the events of the Hobbit trilogy and the Lord of the Rings, but even that is only speculation. Whether we’ll see any characters we know from previous films, beyond Andy Serkis, who will also direct the movie, returning as Gollum, is anybody’s guess.
Still, it wouldn’t be a shock if there were plans to bring familiar characters, from some of the best fantasy movies ever into the new entry. Jackson found a way to shoehorn Orlando Bloom’s Legolas into the Hobbit movies, so it would surprise nobody if the new movie found ways to do something similar with Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn or any number of characters from The Hobbit trilogy as well.
Of course, it’s also been decades since the Lord of the Rings movies. Which means that any actors in the roles are significantly older than they once were, while they would need to play versions of their characters that are younger. Makeup, or even CGI, can certainly be used to make that work, the question is how convincing any of it would be.
Certainly, if the movie finds a way to include characters we love in the story that doesn’t feel like it’s retconning entire trilogies, fans will likely be on board. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.