Elijah Wood Reacts To New Lord Of The Rings Movies

Actor Elijah Wood has shared his opinion on the recently announced The Lord of the Rings spin-off movies.

Wood, who played the main character Frodo Baggins in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, recently spoke in an interview with GQ about his role in the TV show Yellowjackets, where he discussed his character and the recent release of Season 2. When the topic of Lord of the Rings came up, specifically the multiple new movies that Warner Brothers announced they would be making.

"I'm fascinated and I'm excited. I hope it's good. I'm surprised--I don't know why I'm surprised because, of course there would be more movies," Wood said. "Obviously at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money. It's not that a bunch of executives are like, ‘Let's make really awesome art. And, again, not begrudging anybody because, of course, it is commerce. But great art can come from commerce. So those two things are not mutually exclusive.

WB/New Line shared its plans earlier this year, stating that it's hoping to create a "Star Wars-like franchise" out of the Lord of the Rings IP. Although right now, no scripts have been written.

"But Lord of the Rings didn't come out of that place," he continued. "It came out of a passion for these books and wanting to see them realized. And I hope that that is ultimately what will drive everything forward with whatever these subsequent movies are. I just hope that it's the same motivating factor at its core, whenever they hire a screenwriter and a filmmaker--that it is with reverence for Tolkien’s material and enthusiasm to explore it."

Last year, Amazon released the Rings of Power TV show, set during Middle-earth's Second Age. Season 2 is currently in production and doesn't have a release date just yet. Here's everything we know so far about the upcoming Lord of the Rings movies.