As with anything discussed on social media, plenty of fans used the opportunity for a laugh. Tolkien influencer @myelessar posted a low-quality screenshot from “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum” (one of the worst video games released in 2023) along with the caption, “leaked image from the newly announced lord of the rings film: the hunt for gollum (2026).” User @Cyael poked fun at the decision to split “The Hobbit” into three movies by saying, “we can assume this one will be 6 movies minimum.” Influencer @DailyRoP took a shot at the aggressive 2026 release date, as well, saying, “FYI you can bet the house that this isn’t being released in 2026.”
User @ddunderfelt went all in on the humor, joking that Serkis would direct in character as Gollum before adding a snippet of imagined on-set dialogue that reads, “Ready, we are? Action, we calls it! Move, precious, move! Gollum watchesss, yeeesss, makes sure it’s perfect, perfect for the precioussss! Lightses, lightses! More shadow here, yes, yes. Makes it dark and dangerous. Hobbitses are scared, very scared, but they must go on. You makes it darker! Dark as Gollum’s cave!”
Many have also taken the opportunity to chime in with their own opinion of Middle-earth adaptation priorities. User @LuzBRSoumaiseu addressed story concerns by asking, “Why not make a film about the First Age?” User @VpGabo offered production advice by stating, “Let’s hope they have [Guillermo del Toro] or [Taika Waititi], or even [Rian Johnson] to make them really work, or worth the wait. And a huge respect for the source material.”
