It’s going to be a beautiful summer weekend. (Maybe—we don’t know where you live.) We do know how tempting it’s going to be to get outside and see other people, but Josh Gad has other plans for you on Sunday. That’s when he’s turning the upcoming episode of his quarantine YouTube series, “Reunited Apart” into a “Lord of the Rings” reunion and fundraiser.
Based on the short teaser video that has already been released, we already know a few things about this reunion. For starters, it will include many cast favorites, including Sean Astin (who plays Samwise Gamgee), Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck) and Billy Boyd (Pippin Took). It will also involve McKellen drinking a well-deserved glass of red wine.
But wait, there’s more! “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson and actors Andy Serkis, Karl Urban, Viggo Mortensen, Mirando Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Bean and Liv Tyler will also join the Zoom call.
The fundraiser for a COVID-19 charity is hitting especially close to home for this particular group. Cast and crew of the “Lord of the Rings” films recently learned of the death of their colleague, Andrew Jack, a dialect coach for the series who passed away in April at age 76 from complications from COVID-19.
And this isn’t Gad’s first reunion rodeo. He previously reunited the casts of two hit films from 1985: “Goonies” and “Back to the Future.” Earlier this week, he brought Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, Eugene Levy and Ron Howard together to discuss their 1984 classic “Splash.”
In each episode, Gad raises money for a COVID-19-related charity. Previous organizations have included Project HOPE (a global health and humanitarian relief organization), DigDeep (working to ensure every American has water and sanitation access) and The Center for Disaster Philanthropy (supporting those hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic).
“Reunited Apart: The Lord of the Rings” will premiere on Sunday, May 31 at 9 a.m. PT/12p.m. ET on Gad’s YouTube channel.