Andy Serkis has only completed a week of filming on The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, but he's already being questioned on his filmmaking techniques. The director, who also plays Gollum in the movie, recently opened up about how they're using AI in the upcoming prequel.
Asked by Variety if he plans to use AI in the movie, Serkis replied: "Not at present, other than some of the de-aging. There's a little bit of de-aging for some of the characters and machine learning is part of the process. When you think about it, in the original Lord of the Rings films, Peter [Jackson] created MASSIVE, which was a program which allowed 1000s of orcs to all have their own individual mindset. So that is a brilliant example of an incredible use of AI."
However, Serkis did go on to clarify that they're not planning on using AI beyond this. "We’re not creating AI shots in our movie, every shot is created in a traditional way," he added. "One of the things actually that I really wanted to do with this film was to bring back all of the great filmmaking skills, from miniatures to prosthetics and marry them up, because that’s my taste. I like it when you mix up different filmmaking techniques."
Serkis has previously been quite open-minded about the use of AI in filmmaking, adding in the same interview that while it can't replicate performances, it can be used as a "creative tool". His comments are similar to those made recently by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, who is also acting as an executive producer on The Hunt for Gollum.
Per Variety, he said at Cannes earlier this year that although AI is "going to destroy the world," when it comes to filmmaking, "I don’t dislike it at all." He added: "I mean, to me, it’s just a special effect. It's no different from other special effects."
The Hunt for Gollum is set between the events of The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, telling the story of Aragorn's adventure to track down Gollum before Sauron can find him. Jamie Dornan plays the character made famous by Viggo Mortensen in the new film, starring alongside Ian McKellen, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood, Anya Taylor-Joy, Lee Pace, and Leo Woodall.
The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be released on December 17, 2027. For more, check out our guides on how to watch the Lord of the Rings movies in order and our breakdown of The Lord of the Rings timeline.
