The Hunt For Gollum will explore unseen parts of character's journey

'The Hunt For Gollum' will "delve into" parts of the character's journey fans haven't seen on screen before.

Filmmaker Peter Jackson is set to serve as executive producer on the new 'Lord of the Rings' spin-off movie, which will see Andy Serkis reprise his role as well as directing the project, and Jackson insisted it made sense to explore Gollum/Sméagol more than the likes of Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom).

He told Deadline: "The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic.

"I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there's a little bit of both of them in all of us.

"We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn't have time to cover in the earlier films."

While Jackson insisted it's "too soon" to make any guesses about what other characters could turn up, he did promise to stay true to 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings' author JRR Tolkien's vision.

He added: "It's too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien."

Serkis has been a pioneer in motion capture and voice acting since taking on the role of Gollum, and Jackson insisted there was no doubt he'd be returning for this despite not playing the character for over a decade.

He explained: "Andy was a joy to work with directing Second Unit on 'The Hobbit'.

"He has the energy and imagination and, most importantly, an inherent understanding of the world and of the story that is needed to step back into Middle-earth.

"We have collaborated on eight films together and each time it has been a fantastic experience. There's no one on this Earth better equipped to tackle Gollum's story than Andy."