'The Hobbit' is getting a new audiobook edition read by Andy Serkis

The voice of Gollum returns to Middle Earth.
 By 
Kellen Beck
 on 
'The Hobbit' is getting a new audiobook edition read by Andy Serkis
Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in 'The Lord of Rings' film trilogy, returns to Middle Earth as a narrator of 'The Hobbit.' Credit: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

As if we needed an excuse to dive back into J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, a new audiobook version of the prelude to The Lord of the Rings read by Andy Serkis is coming out in September.

To tease the release of this version of The Hobbit, publisher HarperCollins released a snippet of Serkis's narration at the very beginning of the book. It's just about two minutes of the book's total 7-hour-and-40-minute running time and it sounds great.

Serkis portrayed Gollum in the Peter Jackson-directed The Lord of the Rings trilogy and was second unit director on The Hobbit trilogy so he's certainly no stranger to Middle Earth. Plus he has a voice that just seems to fit the story very well.


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He's also not a stranger to reading The Hobbit out loud. Back in May he read the book during a charity live stream, and he has also applied his Gollum voice to the book to hilarious effect.

You can pre-order the Serkis version of The Hobbit now.

Topics Books

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Kellen Beck

Kellen is a science reporter at Mashable, covering space, environmentalism, sustainability, and future tech. Previously, Kellen has covered entertainment, gaming, esports, and consumer tech at Mashable. Follow him on Twitter @Kellenbeck

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