Studio: Takedown notice for 15-year-old fan-made Hunt for Gollum was a mistake

A day after announcing that the tentatively titled Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum was scheduled for a 2026 release, Warner Bros. immediately moved to block a beloved 2009 unauthorized fan film with the exact same name on YouTube.

Less than 12 hours later, though, the studio appeared to back down from this copyright fight, reinstating the fan film on YouTube amid fan backlash protesting the copyright strike on Reddit as a “dick move.”

In 2009, director Chris Bouchard—who most recently directed Netflix’s The Little Mermaid—released The Hunt for Gollum through Independent Online Cinema after he claimed to have “reached an understanding” with the rightsholder of The Lord of the Rings books, then called Tolkien Enterprises (now called Middle-earth Enterprises).

Bouchard’s film was developed on a shoe-string budget of $5,000, with a 39-minute story based on appendixes that Tolkien wrote for The Lord of the Rings books, The Washington Post reported. Upon its release, the fan film quickly racked up millions of views online, reaching more than 13 million on YouTube before it was suddenly blocked this week.

“Video unavailable,” the video hosted on Independent Online Cinema’s YouTube channel temporarily said. “This video contains content from Warner Bros. Entertainment, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.”

“That’s so lame,” one Reddit user wrote, dissing Warner Bros. as “greedy f**ks” that “can’t help but hoard every penny, like Smaug. The video already had 13 million views and was peacefully existing for all these years.”

By mid-day Friday, however, Independent Online Cinema commented to announce the reinstated video, confirming that “we’re back, thanks to WB for being so understanding to us as fans and artists.” In an email, Bouchard told Ars that it’s still unclear what triggered the block, but “we’re just all very happy our small film still is out there, as it was made for love.”

Bourchard’s film was never intended to garner any profits, opening with a disclaimer that openly noted that the fan film was not affiliated with Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings movie director Peter Jackson, or any studio. Produced solely for private use, the movie was made “solely for the personal, uncompensated enjoyment of ourselves and other Tolkien fans,” the disclaimer said.

Bouchard confirmed to Ars that the fan film never made money on YouTube, noting that “there have been no ads or revenue” and “the film is a fan film, non-commercial project, made just for the creative endeavor.”

While the movie was blocked, fans and media outlets speculated that Warner Bros. may have wielded the copyright claim because the major motion picture might tell a similar story as Bouchard’s film or possibly just to ensure that there’s no confusion when movie-goers attempt to search for details about the new movie online. The Hollywood Reporter speculated that the fan film may have even helped inspire the release of the Warner Bros. film.

Some fans agreed that Warner Bros. was acting logically to protect its intellectual property (IP), however, saying that it “makes sense” and “any other company would have done the same.”

Others moved to help fans download the film before it was potentially removed everywhere online, offering to share their own downloads if necessary and pointing out that the film could still be found on at least one unofficial YouTube channel not seemingly associated with Independent Online Cinema.

Bouchard was touched by all the fan outcry, telling Ars that it has “been incredible that plenty of folks out there seemed to remember our project.”

It’s possible the backlash pushed Warner Bros. to reverse the block. In 2019, the Harvard Business Review noted that “until recently, companies have largely tolerated individuals who seek to bring their fictional worlds to life, on the theory that going after one’s fans is not good for business.”

“Overreaching by companies can threaten creativity, competition, fan goodwill, and, more fundamentally, the freedom to play and ‘geek out’ about the stories we love,” HBR warned.

At least one Redditor agreed with this viewpoint, posting, “I will never understand moves like this. Literally no one will pass on watching the movie because some fan film exists. Same with gaming companies that take down every fan project (Nintendo obviously). I‘ve read before, that it is to protect the IP, but other companies encourage that stuff and don’t lose the IP.”

Warner Bros. already faces “heavy skepticism” that a full-length feature seemingly centered on Gollum will be any good—even one directed by and starring original Gollum actor Andy Serkis, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Some Redditors declared that they might boycott the new movie if Bouchard’s film wasn’t reinstated on YouTube.

“This makes me more likely to pass on WB’s movie honestly,” one Reddit user wrote, while another declared, “I already hate their new film now.”

But it’s also just as possible that Warner Bros. did not actively seek to remove the fan film online, instead submitting video files to YouTube that potentially triggered an automated removal. Bouchard told Ars that’s his suspicion.

Ars could not immediately reach Warner Bros. or YouTube for comment.

While some Lord of the Rings fans aren’t sure that the new movie will be as good as the widely acclaimed Jackson trilogy, Bouchard said that his team can’t wait to see Warner Bros.’ version of The Hunt for Gollum.

“We are excited as fans about the new movie” and seeing “how the story will be visualized!” Bouchard told Ars. His film actually centers Gandalf and Aragorn as they hunt for Gollum, but there’s no telling yet if Warner Bros.’ movie will avoid featuring Gollum as the main character.

On YouTube, the Independent Online Cinema account posted under the video that they’re “glad” that any fans eager to see the Warner Bros. film can in the “meantime” enjoy “our low-budget effort at the story.”