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What made Lee Pace return for The Lord of the Rings: the Hunt for Gollum? Maybe it's because Middle-earth gets people through tough times
The morally dubious King Thranduil will be back in The Hunt for Gollum doing whatever he believes best for the elves of Mirkwood, regardless of who gets in the way. The guy playing him, however, might have more altruistic motives
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No big deal, but we were right: Lee Pace is indeed returning to the cinematic Middle-earth, reprising his role as elven King Thranduil in 2027's The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. While we're just happy to see Legolas's Papa back on the big screen, it's at least worth wondering why the Guardians of the Galaxy and Pushing Daisies star is putting on the ears again. And if you're wondering the same thing, well, we might have just found a reason.
The reason we're talking about comes from an interview Pace did with Bustle, which was published in November of 2025. It's a wide-ranging chat that touches on everything from The Running Man (which the actor was promoting at the time) to the ever-approaching Practical Magic 2, in which Pace will star alongside returning stars Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. One thing that doesn't get overlooked, though, is the slight irony of Pace's many genre hits. As a person who came to Julliard at 17 to pursue theater, isn't it just a little bit interesting that Pace has found such success wielding swords and laser blasters?
Not at all, says Pace.
"The more that I’ve been stopped on the street," he told Bustle, "By someone who’s like, I saw you in The Fall — or when someone who talks about The Hobbit having helped them through their illness — the more you think what a privilege it is to be able to bring enjoyment and entertainment to people."
And by the way - it's not like Pace believes that his Elven King character, father to Orlando Bloom's Legolas and Lord of Mirkwood, is so very different than the very regular human beings he plays.
"There have been times I’ve done not-genre things where I find those characters as surreal, if not more," Pace told his interviewer. "I mean, life is more surreal than genre. You wouldn’t believe some of the shit that happens just in daily life."
To that point, Lee, maybe we would.
King Thranduil returns to the big screen when The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum comes to theaters December 17, 2027.
Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you:
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