"I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn" - As work on The Hunt for Gollum continues, the team behind it has its fingers crossed that it can convince Viggo Mortensen to return

It sounds like Warner Bros. is trying to bring back as much of the original cast as it can for The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, as now they're after Viggo Mortensen.

Back in September, it was reported that Warner Bros. was looking to get Ian McKellen to return to his classic role of Gandalf for the upcoming The Hunt for Gollum. While it's not become clear yet if he's signed on or not (a script still isn't completely ready yet), McKellen isn't the only classic Lord of the Rings actor they're hoping to add to the cast. Speaking to The Playlist, Lord of the Rings writer Philippa Boyens shared that The Hunt for Gollum is set to feature fan favourite character Aragorn quite prominently, and that herself alongside Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are really hopping Viggo Mortensen will reprise his role once more. The big question now is whether he'll agree to it or not.

"Honestly, that’s entirely going to be up to Viggo, collaboratively and we are at a very early stage," Boyens said. "I’ve spoken to Viggo, Andy [Serkis] has spoken to him, Peter [Jackson] has spoken to him, we’ve all spoken to each other and honestly, I cannot imagine anyone else playing Aragorn, but it will be completely and entirely up to Viggo. I know Andy wants to work with him, but also, we don’t see this as like, using A.I. [technology], this is about a digital make-up, and whether Viggo does it or will entirely depends on how good the script is."

Boyens noted that Mortensen doesn't actually have a script yet, and admitted they need to see if they write a good enough role for him first, and after that if the actor can "find enough in it to see that it’s a performance he wants to take on." Don't worry, though, as even if Mortensen doesn't take on the role, they'd still want him to be heavily involved - "how do we hand this character off? But literally that decision is several, several months away. He’s got to read the script first."

The film is set to be not quite a sequel or a prequel, running parallel to the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, the story starting after Bilbo's birthday party, but before the Mines of Moria. It also won't be two films, like previously reported, but one, with that other film being a separate Lord of the Rings project entirely. Essentially, Lord of the Rings fans will be eating good… in a few years time.