Should we bring back Viggo Mortensen in The Lord of the Rings?

“I can't imagine anyone else playing Aragorn,” assures the producer and screenwriter of the next film dedicated to Gollum and which will take place at the time of the Fellowship of the Ring.

As we return to Middle Earth this winter, with the release of the animated film dedicated to Rohan, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrimthe franchise will continue in the cinema immediately with a live-action film.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum will be carried out by Andy Serkis and produced by Philippa Boyensone of the historical figures of the saga, who was already screenwriter of Peter Jackson's trilogy. She then helped bring Viggo Mortensen to play Aragorn. And in an interview with The Playlist, Boyens assures that she is currently pleading for a comeback for Viggo in Gondor.

“Honestly, it's going to be entirely up to Viggo, working with. We're at a very early stage of development. But I've spoken to Viggo, Andy [Serkis] spoke to him, Peter [Jackson] spoke to him. I honestly can't imagine anyone else playing Aragorn. Now it will be up to him to decide whether he wants to come back or not…”

Philippa Boyens also explains that the story of his new film will take place during The Fellowship of the Ringjust before Frodo leaves the Shire for Rivendell. The film will follow Aragorn as Gandalf asks him to find Gollum before he can share sensitive information about the One Ring…

Obviously, this means that the story takes place at the time of a film shot more than 20 years ago. Viggo Mortensen is now 66 years old. So how could he play Aragorn in his thirties, like in his prime? AI, more AI, to rejuvenate it digitally? Boyens tempers : “I know Andy wants to work with him, but also, we are not really considering the use of AI technology. It would be more of a digital makeup… But hey, let Viggo do it or does will depend entirely on the quality of the script and he hasn't read the script yet. So let's see if we write a good enough role and if he can find enough in it to see that it's a good performance. 'he wants to take responsibility afterwards. It will be up to Viggo and Andy to decide how to achieve this.”

In any case, the producer would like to be involved Viggo Mortensen in production. Either way. “Even if he decides not to play in it, we would still like him to be heavily involved. To be there to convey this character. But literally, that decision won't be made for several months. He has to first read the script and that's exactly what I'm working on at the moment…”

A priori, it is difficult to imagine Viggo Mortensenwho became an indie filmmaker, returning to play in the franchise LOTRto be rejuvenated more or less digitally, at the risk of completely ruining its legendary heritage of the first trilogy of Peter Jackson. Especially since he recently said he was having trouble with “franchises“from now on… Which, as a result, leaves one perplexed about this whole idea of Gollum Huntaround an Aragorn who, factually, no longer exists…

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt For Gollum does not yet have a cinema release date.