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

Enlarge / WETA "Gollum" figure at Arclight at the opening of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." (credit: Barry King / Contributor | WireImage)

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...