Elijah Wood voices concerns about new Lord of the Rings films in development at Warner Bros.

Elijah Wood is cautiously optimistic about Warner Bros. and New Line’s plan to develop more Lord of the Rings movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's work.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in a new interview with GQ, the 42-year-old actor said he was generally supportive of the idea but admitted to having a concern. “I’m fascinated and I’m excited,” he said. “I hope it’s good. I’m surprised—I don’t know why I’m surprised because, of course there would be more movies. Obviously at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money.

He added, “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.” Wood stressed that Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy “didn’t come out of that place,” referring to commerce.

“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.”

In another interview with Extra, when asked if he’s open to reprise his iconic role as Frodo Baggins in a reboot, Wood replied, “Reboot – I don’t know about that, but if there’s more films that potentially involve Frodo, I would be down.” According to reports, the studio has indicated that they will produce "multiple" films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's books, but no further details have been provided.

In a statement to Variety, Jackson and his Lord of the Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens previously said Warner Bros. “kept us in the loop every step of the way” regarding the new Lord of the Rings films. “We look forward to speaking with [the studio] further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward,” Jackson, Walsh and Boyens added in their statement.

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