Elijah Wood 'Surprised' By New 'Lord of the Rings' Movies, Shares Cautious Optimism

"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," Wood said

Elijah Wood has cautious optimism about the upcoming Lord of the Rings films.

The Yellowjackets actor — best known for playing Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy — shared his thoughts on Warner Bros. developing multiple new franchise films.

"I'm fascinated and I'm excited. I hope it's good. I'm surprised — I don't know why I'm surprised because, of course, there would be more movies," Wood, 42, told GQ in an interview published Friday.

"Obviously, at the core of that, is a desire to make a lot of money. It's not that a bunch of executives are like, 'Let's make really awesome art,'" he continued. "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."

Related:New Lord of the Rings Films in Works at Warner Bros., New Line: 'We Plan to Honor the Past'

"But Lord of the Rings didn't come out of that place," Wood noted. "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."

He added, "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 [J.R.R.] Tolkien's material and enthusiasm to explore it."

Alongside New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. announced in February that the studio obtained a multi-year deal to develop new features based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books and The Hobbit.

Although Warner Bros. previously released three LOTR films and three Hobbit films, they assured that "the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored on film."

Related:The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Takes Fans Once More into J.R.R. Tolkien's Magical Realm

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Peter Jackson's live-action Lord of the Rings trilogy hit theaters between 2001 and 2003, breaking several box office records and raking in more than $1 billion worldwide. The films also earned a combined 17 Academy Awards.

He went on to direct three Hobbit films for the studio, released from 2012 to 2014.

Meanwhile, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been renewed for a second season at Amazon Prime Video. The series is not directly based on Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels but his 1977 posthumous collection of myths and stories The Silmarillion.

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