Peter Jackson Compares The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker: ‘You Have to Get Inside His Head’

Peter Jackson has compared The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum to Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, saying the movie will “get inside” the character’s head and tell the story from an internal perspective.

The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Gollum actor Andy Serkis, acts as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, and sees Aragorn, tasked by Gandalf, tracking Gollum for years to prevent Sauron from learning about the One Ring.

Speaking to IndieWire, Jackson said inspiration came from 2019’s Joker, which focuses on Arthur Fleck transforming from a neglected, mentally ill man into a violent, carefree agent of chaos who rejects all societal, moral, and political structures — and sparks a violent countercultural revolution in the process.

“We were thinking about the original Joker film, the one with Joaquin Phoenix,” Jackson said. “The way that explored the Joker’s psychology while it was telling a story. We’ve got the story that’s in the appendices, and we’ll tell that story, but we’ll tell it from an internal Gollum perspective. You’re taking written things by Tolkien and filming them from a certain POV, and that means you have to get inside his head. I’ve got no particular desire to get inside Gollum’s head. Andy Serkis can do that himself.”

Jackson has explained why he’s not directed The Hunt for Gollum, preferring Serkis to lead the charge instead. “I could have directed it but I just thought, ‘I’ve done it,'” Jackson told Variety, referencing his work on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

“And it’s not because of me that I thought, ‘I’ve done it,'” Jackson continued. “I thought it would be more interesting… [if] Gollum himself, Andy Serkis, directed it. Because the film is pretty much an internal story about Gollum’s psychology and addiction.

“It’s a very personal story to Gollum, the character, and I thought that Andy knows this guy better than anybody. So I actually didn’t really think much of me at all. I thought the most exciting version of this movie is if Andy Serkis makes it because he’s going to put Gollum’s psychology on screen like you can’t imagine.”

Jackson reiterated this to IndieWire, saying: “I thought the film would be more interesting if Andy did it. I honestly, truly believe that if it’s a film about Gollum’s addiction and internal struggles, Andy would make a much more interesting film than me. If I thought I’d do a better film, I’d do it. But I thought, there’s a guy that’s going to make a really interesting film here and it’s not me.”

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum hits theaters on December 17, 2027. The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, co-written by Stephen Colbert, follows and will adapt unseen elements from Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring novel via flashback.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.