Warner Bros. have seemingly backtracked on their decision to remove a 15-year-old fan film calledLord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.Following an immense amount of backlash over the studio’s decision to flex their muscles and order the take-down of the fan movie, which has been on YouTube since 2009, it seems that Warner Bros. has now lifted the ban, and the fan film is once again available on YouTube.
Speakign toIGN, the fan film’s star Adrian Webster, who plays Aragorn, said:
“It appears the fan movement today (many articles) have helped get the movie reinstated on YouTube. It’s nice to know there’s some love out there for what we made.”
The film’s director Chris Bouchard added,“We’re happy to see that the film has been reinstated already. Perhaps it was an automated copyright block due to the same title. It’s not quite clear. Anyway, we’re happy it’s back online again just now.”
The original article continues below as reported on June 03, 2025.
Coming quickly following the news that a newLord of the Ringsmovie titledLord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumis in the works, Warner Bros. Pictures has closed down a fan film of the same name over copyright issues. A move that is sure to leave fans reeling. The fan film has been available since 2009 on the YouTube channelIndependent Online Cinema, but has now been closed down with a message reading “This video contains content from Warner Bros. Entertainment, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.”
The Hunt For Gollumshort film had accrued more than 13 million views before being removed. A 40-minute unofficial Lord of the Rings prequel, the short film is “based on appendicies of JRR Tolkein’s classic trilogy, ‘The Lord of the Rings’,” and was made for less than $5,000.The story follows Aragornas he attempts to track down the creature known as Gollum in an attempt to track down the location of the One Ring.
The closing down of the fan film certainly suggests that Warner Bros.’ upcoming movie will follow a similar tale. Unfortunately, the removal of the short film has angered manyLord of the Ringsfans, with some taking toRedditto air their frustration.
“That’s so lame. These greedy f*cks can’t help but hoard every penny, like Smaug. The video already had 13M views, and was peacefully existing for all these years,” said one user, with another asking, “Is this legal? This fan film has existed for years before Warner even got the rights, correct? This would be like Apple copyright claiming all apples.”
Some have even questioned whetherThe Hunt for Gollumwill even work as a feature-length film saying, “I have absolutely no ides [sic] how this film can be in any way good. The hunt for gollum doesnt have enough material for a 2 hour movie which means they’ll likely be making up sht again, recasting viggo and recasting mckellen also? Sacrilege, Just fck off man. I cant believe we are going to see the ‘star wars-ification’ of lord of the rings.”
Andy Serkis Will Direct & Star in Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum
It was announced yesterday thatLord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumis now in development, withAndy Serkisdue to reprise the title role and direct the movie for Warner Bros. You can check out the official press release regardingLord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumbelow.
“The studio revealed the working title for the film is “Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum” and it will be directed by and star Serkis in his iconic titular role. The film will be executive produced by Ken Kamins, with Serkis and The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish.”
What WB’s New Lord of the Rings Movies Can Learn From The Rings of Power
Warner Bros. is planning a new age of Lord of the Rings films, and there are some key lessons to learn from Prime Video’s The Rings of Power.
Lord of the RingsandThe HobbitdirectorPeter Jackson will producealongside Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, with Serkis excited to venture once again “into the unknown with my dear friends.”
“Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa. With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”
Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollumis now set for release sometime in 2026.
