Lord of the Rings takes us back to the Shire in first look at new movie from Andy Serkis

Yesterday was Hobbit Day — named so because 22 September is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins — and Warner Bros celebrated by releasing news pictures from The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, the upcoming prequel that Andy Serkis is directing and starring in.

The film, which started filming in July, is actually set during The Fellowship of the Ring after Gandalf learns of The One Ring and sends Strider out to locate its former owner.

We're now going back to The Shire, as Serkis shared snaps showing the hobbit's homeland.

Related: UK film release dates

It looks like we're going to see some familiar faces too, as the Shirefolk in the photos sure do look like Frodo, Samwise Gamgee and Rosie Cotton.

There are more pictures shared to the Warner Bros TikTok account, where we see some adorable hobbit kids and some huge pumpkins.

While it's not confirmed if Frodo, Sam and Rosie are featured in the film, Strider (aka Aragorn, son of Arathorn) definitely is, and he's now being played by Jamie Dornan. Serkis has had nothing but praise for the actor, calling him "fantastic" while speaking to Variety and stating that he's doing "extremely well" in the role.

Ian McKellen will be back as Gandfalf again, while Lee Pace is reprising the role of Legolas' tetchy father Thranduil from The Hobbit films.

Related: Snatch stars Jason Statham and Stephen Graham reunite at London Fashion Week

New cast members include Anya Taylor-Joy, Leo Woodall, and Kate Winslet, who previously turned down a part in Lord of the Rings.

Behind the scenes, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have penned the script after working on the previous films, while Peter Jackson is serving as a producer.

If you can't wait until the release of the new film to go back to the Shire though, you might be tempted by the special Taste Films screenings of Fellowship, which features the film served up with a seven-course meal inspired by Middle-earth.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt of Gollum is set to release on 17 December, 2027.

Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of Dolly Parton's life, is here. Buy Dolly in newsagents or online.

Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.