"The Hunt for Gollum" starts filming — teaser hides a message in Tolkien's runic script

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The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum has officially started production, marking the occasion with a unique teaser – and a hidden Middle-earth message.

As you can see above, the first day of filming sees director and Gollum actor Andy Serkis stride onto an interior stage in – what else? – a motion-capture suit.

From there, Serkis begins 'filming' the first scene of the latest Lord of the Rings movie, transforming into Gollum and spitting 'action' at the camera.

The teaser then transports us to a more familiar locale in New Zealand, which provided the backdrop for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Then, it ends with a message written in Cirth, a fictional runic language invented by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Don't worry, it's already been deciphered by StarlightAndLife on Reddit . It reads, 'Something precious awaits.' A perfect tagline if you ask us.

Set prior to The Fellowship of The Ring, The Hunt for Gollum charts Aragorn aiming to track down Gollum. Lord of the Rings veterans Sir Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood reprise their roles of Gandalf and Frodo respectively. They are joined in the cast by Anya Taylor-Joy, Lee Pace, Leo Woodall, and Jamie Dornan, who takes over from Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn.

Andy Serkis also recently revealed The Hunt for Gollum would be utilizing AI with some de-aging effects but tempered any controversy by telling Variety that "every shot is created in a traditional way."

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is set for release on December 17, 2027. For more, check out our guides on how to watch the Lord of the Rings movies in order and The Lord of the Rings timeline .