Although Andy Serkis has moved on to other film franchises over the years, including next year’s The Batman, one of his greatest performances was his turn as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. Now, Serkis is about to revisit Middle-earth in an entirely different capacity. Harper Collins UK has announced that Serkis will lend his dulcet tones to a new audiobook of The Hobbit. You can check out the announcement as well as a clip of Serkis reading the book’s opening paragraphs via Twitter below.
We are delighted to announce the release of a brand-new audiobook of The Hobbit, read by @andyserkis!
Listen to an extract from this magical recording, and pre-order here: https://t.co/MhvQ2ZhEZx pic.twitter.com/ahBT4azXZ6
— HarperCollinsUK (@HarperCollinsUK) July 2, 2020
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Sadly, Serkis isn’t using his Gollum voice to narrate the entire novel. But since this might unsettle a few listeners and be physically taxing for Serkis, it’s probably for the best. Serkis definitely isn’t the first performer to record audio for a Lord of the Rings adventure. Rob Inglis previously narrated the unabridged versions of all of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books in the early ‘90s. Additionally, the BBC recorded their own dramatized versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in 1981. These recordings also notably featured the recently-departed Ian Holm, who went on to play Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s films.
The Lord of the Rings saga seems poised to enjoy yet another surge in popularity in the coming years. Amazon’s upcoming TV series, which was recently given the green light to resume production in New Zealand, is expected to premiere next year. Daedalic Entertainment is also developing its own video game headlined by Gollum. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like Serkis is involved with that project.
You can pre-order the new Hobbit audiobook here.
Are you excited to hear Andy Serkis narrate the novel? Let us know in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: The Hobbit (Graphic Novel)
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