At the tender age of just 17, Kate Winslet made her feature starring debut in Peter Jackson’s _Heavenly_Creatures, a true story inspired movie both set and made in Jackson’s native New Zealand. Now, over three decades later, Winslet — fresh from her latest turn as Na’vi Ronal in James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire And Ash — is heading back to NZ to undertake another fantastical blockbuster epic. According to Deadline, the Oscar-winning actor has just signed on to play the female lead in Andy Serkis’ upcoming The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum.
Per ‘Breaking Baz’, Deadline‘s insider gossip centric sidebar, director Serkis and producer Jackson spent the bulk of last year persuading Winslet to up sticks and relocate to New Zealand for what’s expected to be a five-month shoot between this May and October. And now, following some vague comments made by Winslet during the Goodbye June press cycle about being out of the UK for a while this year — and rumours cropping up in internet forums about The Hunt For Gollum casting — Deadline are confident that the star’s casting is now a done deal. She joins an impressive cast that already includes Rings OGs Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, and Andy Serkis himself as Gollum. Current internet babble about a potential Leo Woodall appearance as Aragorn and Anya Taylor-Joy in an undisclosed role have yet to be meaningfully substantiated by any of the major Hollywood trades, the actors themselves, or Warner Bros. at this point — but expect rumours to persist in the weeks ahead as pre-production ramps up in NZ.
Set between the events of The Hobbit and Fellowship Of The Ring, and described by co-writer Philippa Boyens to Empire as “an adventure story with a really strong psychological, interior story that’s going on as well,” The Hunt For Gollum follows Aragorn’s quest to capture — you guessed it! — Gollum before he can reveal the location of The One Ring to Sauron. Who exactly Kate Winslet may be playing in the movie is currently being kept secret, kept safe, but we’ll find out one way or another what our return to Middle-earth has in store when The Lord Of The Rings: The Hunt For Gollum hits cinemas on 17 December, 2027.
