The road goes ever on, as a return to Middle-earth is fast approaching. After years of different attempts to expand The Lord of the Rings beyond Peter Jackson’s original trilogy, this newest project has one big advantage. It's a story we already know, and we want to know more, precious. But what exactly is the new Gollum-set prequel about? Well, we might know already.

No two movie franchises have had a bigger impact on film than Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. It's impossible to measure what the original Star Wars trilogy has meant to pop culture. There have been a plethora of movies and TV series since, and a half-century after the first movie debuted, the franchise remains as popular as ever. The same can be said for The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson's original trilogy is Oscar-winning perfection, and it too has had several spinoffs.