LotR, Witcher, and others

The Lord of the Rings

Lately, a ton of news and rumors about my favorite fantasy universe have accumulated.

The Hunt for Gollum

The first officially confirmed movie to feature Peter Jackson’s team. I’m really looking forward to this release and hope that it will be at least on par with The Hobbit trilogy. Expecting anything comparable to the original trilogy from modern Hollywood is pointless. There will be a lot of green screen and even more visual variance.

The lack of material really worries me; all we have is the story of Gandalf and Aragorn at the Council. There may be some other notes, but the Professor didn’t describe the period in question in greater detail. The infamous Amazon series is a good example of why these worries are entirely justified.

Andy Serkis is another cause for concern. To me, his director’s experience is not bad, but not enough at the same time. I hope he makes up for it with enthusiasm, luck, and supervision of Peter’s team. However, it seems we already have an example of his influence: a tilt toward Smeagol’s personal drama. All those flashbacks and characters from his past… Gollum shines in context. Do we really need his biopic? I doubt it.

I’d prefer a full recast. Mixing old guys and new faces is a bad idea. Even if the entire cast returned, it wouldn’t be the best outcome. Time marches on, Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit was one of the examples how wrong it is. I’m afraid even Sir Ian looks too old. So, kudos to the agent Smith, he is absolutely right.

Untitled movies

Additionally, there is an official announcement of two extra movies. We know almost nothing, but the action takes place some time after the original trilogy. A famous American presenter is in charge of the script, which leads to outrage from the Western fan community. I don’t know him and abstain from comments. I’m not surprised that corporations are trying to squeeze every last drop out of the beloved franchise. In any case, the Amazon series has already ripped off that band-aid.

A side note, this case is much better for the original cast to return, isn’t it?

Warhorse

In light of the past failures, we have finally gotten something truly hope giving. Warhorse, a Czech studio known for the KCD franchise, is working on a new open-world Middle-earth RPG. I won’t even begin to describe how cool it is and how closely their experience aligns with the quest.

The Witcher upcoming expansion

I was sure the very first rumors about a new expansion were true because they coincided with the considerable financial expectations for 2026 that CDPR stated in one of its reports to investors. It was clear that it would be impossible to raise that much money without a major release, and new games or a remaster of the first one were still far from ready. Regarding the latter, rumors that The Fool’s Theory had suspended work on it, as well as their official confirmation that they were working on another CDRP project, only strengthened this belief. All that remained was to wait.

I’m a bit confused as to why everybody is so excited about the number of developers working on the expansion. Even if they include CDPR veterans who worked on previous games, including The Wild Hunt. Yes, there are more of them than worked on the Wild Hunt, but does that tell us anything about their quality? Who are these veterans, what did they do at CDPR, and why didn’t they stay there while remaining within their orbit? It’s long been known that a small number of dedicated folk is better than a horde of hacks. I’m not saying the expansion will be trash, but I’m concerned.

Now, we almost know nothing about what this expansion brings to us. A lot of rumors are out there, but I don’t think they deserve any words yet. We will play for Geralt, and the expansion will shed the lights on many question before the upcoming fourth game. That’s all for now.

The Blood of Dawnwalker

A very Witcher-like game from another CDPR veteran is coming out in September. Vampire themes have never been anything special to me. I’m drawn to the setting, visual style, and the affinity with the Witcher games. I’m glad Eastern European studios are stepping up and making great medieval RPGs.