During Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, CEO David Zaslav said (via The Hollywood Reporter) that the company is “now in the early stages of script development” for new The Lord Of The Rings movies, which he says they “anticipate releasing in 2026” and will “explore storylines yet to be told”.

He also said that director Peter Jackson and his longtime writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens “will be involved every step of the way.”

The next “Lord of the Rings” movie has the working title “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum.”

The movie will be directed and star Andy Serkis.

Zaslav said:

“Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and revered franchises in history and presents a significant opportunity for our theatrical business,”

Warner Bros. originally confirmed that they were making new The Lord Of The Rings last year.

Peter Jackson directed The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, released from 2001 to 2003. The series earned a combined US$2.9 billion at the box office. Jackson returned to direct The Hobbit trilogy (2012 to 2014). New Line also has an animated movie titled The War Of The Rohirrim slated for 2024.

This is all separate and not related or connected to Amazon Prime Video’s ongoing The Lord Of The Rings The Rings Of Power TV series (check out our review here).