The most recent celebrity to join the cast of "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum" is Anya Taylor-Joy.
In addition to Ian McKellen (as Gandalf), Elijah Wood (as Frodo), and Lee Pace (as King Thranduil), the New Line and Warner Bros. picture is directed by Andy Serkis, who reprises his role as Gollum.
Kate Winslet (Marigol), Jamie Dornan (Strider), and Leo Woodall (Halvard) are among the notable new cast members that Taylor-Joy joins. Seren, a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and "a trusted and lethal agent of King Thranduil," will be portrayed by the Golden Globe winner and Emmy contender. On December 17, 2027, Warner Bros. will release "The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum" globally.
After "Furiosa," the prequel to "Mad Max: Fury Road," and the "Dune" films, Taylor-Joy has now been cast in three major Warner Bros. series. On December 18, "Dune: Part Three," the conclusion of Denis Villeneuve's critically acclaimed trilogy, will be published. Taylor-Joy will next be seen in "Lucky," which she executive produces for Apple TV+. Felker Toczek Suddleson McGinnis Ryan, The Way Management, Apex PR, and CAA represent her.
The six theatrical "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" movies made around $6 billion globally over the course of 20 years. "The Hunt for Gollum" seeks to carry on that illustrious cinematic tradition. The movie will follow the hunt for the titular corrupted Hobbit in the years preceding "The Fellowship of the Ring," the first part of the trilogy. Produced by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Zane Weiner, the film brings back the Oscar-winning creative team. Executive producers are Jonathan Cavendish, Serkis, and Ken Kamins of The Imaginarium. Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou collaborate with original trilogy screenwriters Walsh and Boyens to adapt the J.R.R. Tolkien source material.
"The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past," the next movie in the fantasy series, will be written by Peter McGee, Stephen Colbert, and Philippa Boyens. WingNut Films, in collaboration with Spartina Industries, is producing the project.
Steven Spielberg's alien-themed thriller "Disclosure Day" made a strong start internationally, pulling in $48.9 million from 73 countries during its first week. Universal spent $115 million to make the movie and another $80 million on advertising. Since about half of the earnings go to theaters, the film needs to make around $300 million worldwide to be profitable. So far, it has made $44 million in North America and $92.9 million in three days. The reviews are mostly positive, but people's responses have been all over the place. This makes it hard to say how long the movie will stay popular in theaters.
"Disclosure Day" stars Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor as a weather expert and a tech expert who team up to reveal the government's secret about aliens.
The film had a good number of viewers in big screen formats like Imax, which contributed $6.5 million or 15% of its international earnings. The top markets were the United Kingdom and Ireland with $7.6 million, Mexico with $3.9 million, China with $2.9 million, and France with $2.9 million.
David A. Gross, who follows box office trends, says sci-fi movies usually do well overseas.
He adds that if the film isn't doing well, it's because China has become less of a big market for American movies.
Meanwhile, the movie "Michael," which is about Michael Jackson, is getting closer to another box office record.
It has made $17 million internationally and $21 million overall in its eighth weekend. So far, it has earned $932.2 million worldwide and should soon pass $950 million. If sales continue to rise and go over $975 million, it will beat "Oppenheimer" as the highest-grossing biopic ever. The movie has already beaten "Bohemian Rhapsody" ($911 million) as the biggest musical biopic.
Other large movies are not doing as well.
Amazon MGM's "Masters of the Universe," a toy movie, made only $8.4 million from 86 countries in its second weekend, bringing its international total to just $39.4 million. The film, based on an 80s toy, is close to being a failure with $45.7 million from the U.S. and $84 million worldwide against a budget of nearly $200 million.
Disney's "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" is also not doing well, taking in $7.1 million from 52 countries in its fourth showing.
This family film, which is connected to the popular Disney+ series "The Mandalorian," has made $150 million overseas and $315 million worldwide against a $165 million budget. It might end up being the worst-earning "Star Wars" film ever, a title currently held by 2018's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" with $179 million internationally and $392 million worldwide, not adjusted for inflation.
"Disclosure Day," a sci-fi adventure directed by Steven Spielberg, opened at number one in the domestic box office with $44 million from 3,824 theaters. These ticket sales were higher than the expected $35 million but still lower than the $50 million that some studios believe a film of this size should make to be worth its cost. "Disclosure Day" is one of the summer's biggest bets, with $115 million spent on production and $80 million on marketing. Since theaters usually get about half of the revenue, "Disclosure Day" needs to make roughly $300 million worldwide to be profitable.
Critics gave the film positive reviews with an 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but audience opinions were mixed, with a "B" on CinemaScore exit polls.
It's unclear how well the movie will do in the coming weeks. However, Spielberg's movies often do well over time. For example, his 2018 film "Ready Player One" made $41 million opening weekend and went on to earn $137 million domestically and $607 million worldwide. So far, "Disclosure Day" has made $48.9 million from 73 international markets, giving it a global start of $92.9 million.
David A. Gross, who runs the box office newsletter FranchiseRe, says there's no direct connection between reviews, word-of-mouth, and box office success.
"No one really knows where this film is headed," he said. He believes that international audiences could help the film do well over time, since sci-fi stories are easy for everyone to understand and enjoy.
Spielberg, who started the summer box office with "Jaws" in 1975, is known for creating big, escapist blockbusters like "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Jurassic Park," and "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Recently, he has made more serious films like "The Post," "West Side Story," and "The Fabelmans," which received many Oscar nominations but didn't attract younger audiences.
This is reflected in the audience for "Disclosure Day," where 60% of the viewers were 35 or older. The initial crowds were excited to see the twisty conspiracy thriller on large screens, with large formats making up 48% of the total earnings. The film stars Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor as a meteorologist and cybersecurity expert who team up to uncover the government’s cover-up of alien life.
Jim Orr, the domestic distribution president at Universal, called Spielberg one of the greatest filmmakers in history.
He noted that audiences chose the film mainly because of Spielberg. "It's a movie that people will talk about for a long time. It's a theatrical event that makes you think," he added.
Elsewhere at the domestic box office, new releases like Paramount's horror parody "Scary Movie" and Amazon MGM's toy adaptation "Masters of the Universe" both saw a sharp drop in attendance.
"Scary Movie" dropped to third place with $14.5 million from 3,504 theaters, bringing its total domestic sales to $84.5 million and $173.1 million worldwide. Despite the drop, the film only cost $30 million to produce and is expected to be profitable.
"Masters of the Universe," on the other hand, has a harder time justifying its high cost.
It dropped to fifth place with $8.6 million from 3,677 locations, earning only $45.7 million in North America and $84 million worldwide. With a production budget of almost $200 million, it looks like one of the year's biggest financial disappointments. The movie is based on the 1980s Mattel toy and cartoon, and its turnout suggests it isn't appealing beyond a small group of older males.
Meanwhile, "Obsession" continues to do well in its fifth weekend, earning $19 million with a 25% drop from its previous weekend and securing second place on the box office.
More impressively, the horror hit, directed by YouTube creator Curry Barker, has had four consecutive weekends with higher earnings than its initial $17 million debut. Now, with $188.3 million in North America and $265 million globally, "Obsession" is the highest-grossing film for its distributor, Focus Features.
"Backrooms," another horror film, took the fourth spot with $12 million from 3,404 theaters in its third weekend.
Directed by YouTube creator Kane Parsons, the film has made $160 million in North America and $262 million worldwide. After less than two weekends, "Backrooms" overtook "Marty Supreme" ($191 million) as A24's highest-grossing movie of all time.
Right now, Hollywood is feeling positive because the domestic box office is up 13% compared to last year, according to Rentrak. What's more interesting is that the summer season is only 3.4% behind 2019, the last year before the pandemic, when "Avengers: Endgame" set many records. Next weekend's "Toy Story 5" is expected to be the first major movie of the summer to make more than $100 million, which could help close that gap. Other upcoming movies like the "Despicable Me" spinoff "Minions & Monsters," Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" are also set to keep movie theaters busy throughout the summer.
Rentrak's head of marketplace trends, Paul Dergarabedian, says, "This is one of the most unusual, interesting, and unpredictable summer movie seasons.
With 'Toy Story 5,' 'The Odyssey,' 'Minions & Monsters,' 'Moana,' and 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' on the horizon, I believe this strong summer box office momentum will continue."
Apple Original Films has chosen "One Month Mark," a romantic comedy, to add to its lineup. The film stars and produces Jennifer Lawrence. The script was written by Sophie Fleur de Bruijn, who is also a playwright, writer, and director. The story was in a race to be picked up by producers and studios.
David Ready and Peter Chernin from Chernin Entertainment, known for the horror movie Backrooms, are producing the film along with Jennifer Lawrence.
Lawrence is producing through her company, Excellent Cadaver, and is working with her producing partner, Justine Ciarrocchi. Sophie Fleur de Bruijn will also be an executive producer.
The basic story is: "She has never lasted past a month in a relationship.
He has never gone longer than a month without one."
The project does not yet have a director, but they are looking for one.
This is Sophie Fleur de Bruijn's second project with Apple, following "Early Action," a comedy that Apple bought last year. She studied comedy at iO and The Upright Citizens Brigade and graduated from the Second City Conservatory. On her website, she says she loves making high-energy, emotionally grounded comedies that focus on strong, independent women and girls.
"One Month Mark" is the fourth project with Jennifer Lawrence for Apple.
She recently finished filming "What Happens at Night," a drama directed by Martin Scorsese that also stars Leonardo DiCaprio. She starred and produced the 2022 drama "Causeway" for Apple and was a producer on the Peabody Award-winning Apple Original documentary "Bread & Roses," which told the story of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Brady Fujikawa, executive vice president of Chernin Entertainment, will be an executive producer and oversee the project.
Chernin has had a successful year, releasing Backrooms, Charlize Theron's Netflix movie Apex, and the TV adaptation of Man on Fire.
Jennifer Lawrence is represented by LBI Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson.
Sophie Fleur de Bruijn is represented by Anonymous Content and Johnson Shapiro.
2025 | R | 1h 32m
Genre: Thriller
Directed by
Jennifer E. Montgomery
Screenplay by
Jennifer E. Montgomery
Andrew Davis
Produced by
Jennifer E. Montgomery
Andrew Davis
Jessica Malanaphy
Marcei Brown
William Day Frank
Starring
Simone Ashley
Austin Stowell
Suraj Sharma
Mojean Aria
Amol Shah
Zenobia Shroff
Cinematography Andrew Davis
Edited by Kiran Pallegadda
Music by Rebekka Karijord
Production
companies
Smoke Jumper Films
Mango Monster Productions
CatchLight Studios
Distributed by Vertical
Release dates
November 27, 2025 (IFFI)
June 12, 2026 (United States)
Running time 92 minutes
Country United States
Language English
