Lord of the Rings Spinoffs The Hunt for Gollum and Shadow of the Past to Expand The Fellowship of the Ring Warner Bros. is expanding The Lord of the Rings with two spinoffs, The Hunt for Gollum and Shadow of the Past, both set around The Fellowship of the Ring. Warner Bros. is expanding The Lord of the Rings franchise with two new spinoff films, The Hunt for Gollum and Shadow of the Past, both set around the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. The Hunt for Gollum, directed by and starring Andy Serkis, is scheduled for release in December 2027, while Shadow of the Past is in development with Stephen Colbert involved. These projects mark a return to the era of Frodo's possession of the One Ring, following previous adaptations that explored earlier periods of Middle-earth. Background of Middle-earth AdaptationsSince Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy concluded in 2003, subsequent movie and TV projects have focused on Middle-earth before Frodo came into possession of the One Ring. These include The Hobbit trilogy, Amazon's The Rings of Power series set during the Second Age, and the animated film The War of the Rohirrim. Warner Bros.' new approach contrasts with these earlier efforts by revisiting the time frame of The Fellowship of the Ring, rather than exploring earlier ages.The Hunt for Gollum will, according to Tolkien's timeline, be set just before and around the start of Peter Jackson's opening movie. It essentially fills the gaps between Gandalf's early visits to the Shire, focusing on the wizard and Aragorn's search for Gollum. Shadow of the Past is even more directly related to The Fellowship of the Ring, with Colbert drawing inspiration from the Barrow-downs chapter that Jackson's movie skipped. Both films act as companion pieces to the first film in the trilogy.Rights and Legal ConsiderationsWho holds what rights to which parts of The Lord of the Rings canon is a nightmare to untangle, and has been for many years. The confusion has been compounded more recently by The Rings of Power including specific details from The Silmarillion, possibly after obtaining approval from the Tolkien Estate. The situation at Warner Bros. is similar to Amazon, with adaptation rights pertaining only to Tolkien's three The Lord of the Rings books (plus their appendices) and The Hobbit.With both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit already very much adapted, Warner Bros. needs to get more creative in how it derives source material from its Tolkien license. Hence, we're now getting smaller stories set in and around The Fellowship of the Ring instead of, for instance, a $300 million blockbuster adapting the First Age's War of Wrath, which would almost certainly be a better movie. It's also worth noting that the movie rights to The Lord of the Rings were up for renewal circa 2023, which could have potentially resulted in a rival studio obtaining the license and producing their own remakes.Warner Bros. ultimately retained its access to the IP, and having made that investment, it's only natural to see new projects emerge from the same universe as Peter Jackson's Middle-earth. The legal limitations restrict Warner Bros. to adapting only The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, so they must find unexplored corners within those texts.Why The Fellowship of the Ring Is Best Suited for SpinoffsLegal limitations aside, it's still curious that The Lord of the Rings' next two movies gravitate toward The Fellowship of the Ring specifically, rather than the other two entries in the series, or even The Hobbit. The most straightforward explanation is that The Fellowship of the Ring is the most condensed entry in Peter Jackson's six-movie bi-trilogy. The Hobbit already pushed its luck by stretching to three installments, pulling from Tolkien's wider lore in order to do so. The Two Towers and The Return of the King, meanwhile, are relatively contained in terms of timeline.With so much happening at any given moment, it's difficult for any of the major players to squeeze in a side story. The one notable exception, of course, would be The Scouring of the Shire coming at The Return of the King's climax. The Fellowship of the Ring is different. Far more ambiguous in its timeline, at least at the beginning, the story takes place over a number of years, and features a sizable time skip, which will likely prove useful to The Hunt for Gollum. The Fellowship of the Ring is also the chapter with the most geographical legwork, as the hobbits travel from the Shire to the edge of Gondor.That epic journey leaves plenty of narrative corners to poke into, and, consequently, plenty of book sections that didn't make it into the film, which is where Shadow of the Past swoops in. Unless Warner Bros. wants to go ahead and make a Scouring of the Shire movie, The Fellowship of the Ring is really the only place to incorporate spinoffs that feature familiar faces, don't contradict canon, and don't breach the borders of material legally available.The Fellowship of the Ring Remains a Fan FavoriteA case can be made for any of those iconic first three, with the gloom of The Two Towers and grandeur of The Return of the King both providing compelling claims to the crown of best The Lord of the Rings movie. However, The Fellowship of the Ring often stands out for its introduction to the world and its balance of adventure and character development. The new spinoffs aim to expand on that beloved chapter.