Elijah Wood, of course, famously starred in three of The Lord of the Rings movies, so you’d think returning to play Frodo Baggins would be something like going home. Wood can’t gush enough about getting to be in Hunt for Gollum, but it turns out reprising the role came with its own surprises for the actor as well. The Hunt for Gollum is on the 2027 movie schedule for the holiday season, and the production recently wrapped filming in New Zealand. Here’s what Wood had to say about returning to play the beloved Hobbit: And I think one of the things that I hadn't anticipated because, I don't know that we're that self-aware because we were the ones who were a part of the making of the thing. But this many years on, the crew is now largely younger people, and they all grew up on these films. And that's a whole other element that I just didn't even think about. The first Lord of the Rings movie came out back in 2001, making the movie franchise 25 years old this year. While it might have felt like no time had passed for the actor when he returned to The Shire, being back on set, he realized that these films have inspired an entire generation of fans. As he added to Deadline: But there's a reverence for these movies. We just made them. Of course, we revere them, but we're the ones that made them. So that was a whole other element that was quite surprising, and something I hadn't really anticipated. Just the reverence for those movies and those characters and seeing Gandalf walk in the set was like an awe-inspiring moment for people who had grown to watch those movies. So that was really cool and very sweet.To be honest, I’m a little surprised that Wood didn’t think about this. I imagine he’s being approached all the time by people who love The Lord of the Rings movies and want to tell him about it. But apparently being on set with a whole new group of crew members really put things into perspective, as he also said this about the experience: It was beautiful and surreal, and it felt like no time had passed, and it felt like stepping back into time. You know, looking down at my [feet and] having this sort of muscle memory of like, 'I've seen these feet this way. I know this wardrobe.' That feeling is so wild. It's so transportive. It's like suddenly 27 years are gone, and you're back in it again. So that was really lovely and special.Wow, it sounds like it was really something special for the original Lord of the Rings actor. Elijah Wood returns to the franchise alongside Andy Serkis, who will star as Gollum and is the feature's director, Ian McKellen, who will play Gandalf again and Lee Pace, who is back as Thranduil. Also, Jamie Dornan is taking over the role of Aragorn, which he recently said he “cried” over when he got the part. Anya Taylor-Joy is playing an elf, because of course she is, and both Kate Winslet and Leo Woodall have been cast in key roles, too. Elijah Wood has called The Hunt for Gollum “a side quest” in The Lord of the Rings universe since it’s not directly based on any of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels. You can check out the first look at the movie that Serkis revealed during production below: A post shared by The Lord of the Rings (@lordoftherings)A photo posted by In the video, you can catch a first glimpse of the back of Elijah Wood’s Frodo opening a door. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy thinking about seeing Frodo again, and it sounds like there were a lot of positive feelings for the actor while he was back in New Zealand making the movie. Its release date, December 17, 2027, can’t come soon enough! While we wait, we can look forward to seeing Elijah Wood in the final season of Yellowjackets, which premieres on November 20. And the Lord of the Rings TV series, Rings of Power, just premiered its first batch of episodes this week, with more on the way for the next two Wednesdays over on Amazon Prime.