Andy Serkis made a
name for himself as a motion capture actor, and the big franchise that truly
proved his talent was Lord of the Rings,
where he famously played Gollum. His face, and his voice, are inseparable from
Tolkien’s story for fans of Peter Jackson’s films. And for those fans, it’s
exciting to know that Serkis’s voice, at least, is returning to Middle-Earth.
As announced by
HarperCollins, the publisher is putting together a new audiobook release of The Hobbit, read by the one and only Andy
Serkis. The unabridged reading will follow the story of Bilbo and his adventure
with a grumpy wizard and a company of dwarves, culminating in a confrontation
with a dragon and a massive battle. You know the story. Eagles are there. And
most delightfully, Gollum, Serkis’s most iconic role, makes a small but
important appearance, meaning Serkis will get a chance to have another take at
his Gollum voice. Which I bet does brutal things to a dude’s throat.
We are delighted to announce the release of a brand-new audiobook of The Hobbit, read by @andyserkis!
Listen to an extract from this magical recording, and pre-order here: https://t.co/MhvQ2ZhEZx pic.twitter.com/ahBT4azXZ6
— HarperCollinsUK (@HarperCollinsUK) July 2, 2020
HarperCollins UK
posted a small preview on its Twitter, link above, and the audiobook itself is
slated for September. It’s for a good cause, too; Serkis donated his readers’
fee to the Disasters Emergency Committee. Audiobooks are a blast, and a lot of
performances in them are honestly much better than you’d expect. For fans of
the Jackson movies, this is probably a huge delight. It’s available for
pre-order now.
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