The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is the latest game set in J.R.R. Tolkein’s world of Middle-Earth. It follows Gollum, the hobbit turned Ring-obsessed creature, as his hunt for his precious takes him across the fantasy landscape. Developer Daedalic Entertainment revealed the first snippet of gameplay recently, and it’s got fans wondering one thing: Is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum based on the movie?
Is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Based on the Movie?
While we don’t have official confirmation yet, it does seem like Gollum is not based on the Peter Jackson movies. It’ll present its own interpretation of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings franchise.
Of course, Daedalic could easily come out and announce its ties to the New Line Cinema movies, but it doesn’t seem likely. For example, the recent gameplay trailer showed us our first look at Gandalf. The grey wizard is played by Ian McKellen in the movies – but his character model in Gollum looks nothing like that version. That’s the evidence we’re going on so far – but since the character looks nothing like his movie iteration, we can safely assume that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is not based on the movie.
However, previous Lord of the Rings games has more closely associated with the movies. The popular games Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War are considered canon with Jackson’s films. Developers WB Interactive consulted Warner Bros, who distributed The Hobbit movies, and Peter Jackson, their director. This was to ensure character designs and art styles resembled those which we see in the movies. Since Gollum hasn’t done this, we can probably guess that Jackson isn’t involved in this one.
In fact, as reported by GamesRadar, Daedalic agreed to a deal with Middle-Earth Enterprises to develop the game. This company is linked to Tolkein’s estate, but not Warner Bros, who own the film rights. Therefore, it seems like the answer to the question is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum based on the movie is a resounding no, it will be its own unique spin on the beloved franchise.
