While Amazon is basking in the success of their “The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power” Middle-Earth streaming series, another big announcement was made today about the future of live-action J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations and specifically about feature films.
Today, it was announced jointly by both Warner Bros. Pictures and Embracer Group‘s Middle-Earth Enterprises (the new rights holders) that the pair have struck a multi-year deal to allow New Line Cinema to continue to expand the cinematic universe of Tolkien’s characters/stories with new feature films, This, of course, being the same studio that brought us both “The Lord of The Rings” and “The Hobbit” movies. However, there’s no mention of filmmaker Peter Jackson, the director and co-writer of the two film trilogies, and whether or not he’ll be involved with any new films moving forward (given his they-didn’t-ask-for-my-help-but-“whatever” thoughts on not being included in Amazon’s series, he’s probably not too heartbroken about it).
”Following our recent acquisition of Middle-Earth Enterprises, we’re thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of J.R.R. Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways. We understand how cherished these works are, and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, we plan to honor the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values.” said Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode in today’s announcement.
UPDATE: Deadline was able to get a comment directly from Jackson and his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens about the announcement. They indicate they’ve been kept in the loop by the parties involved but stop short from saying officially they’ll be participating.
“Warner Brothers and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way,” the Oscar-winning trio told Deadline. “We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.”
What source material they’re allowed to use in these new movies is a bit unclear. The Second Age is currently being used by Amazon for the foreseeable future and is likely off limits to New Line since it’s different studios, and they won’t want much crossover. Tolkien did attempt a story that took place after the fall of Sauron/Mordor with King Aragorn but never actually completed that version for publication. Then again, there is a massive collection of appendices and short stories that his son Christopher Tolkien did take on himself that led to “The History of Middle-Earth” series of books and the more notable “The Silmarillion,” the latter focusing on the First Age and Morgoth, the first Dark Lord of Middle-Earth. First Age material had been restricted for adaptations. But we don’t know if Embracer feels the same way but could be given a cinematic adaptation as the battles of the era would rival the action seen in Jackson’s original trilogy, and modern technology would be able to bring it to life via digital effects.
New Line is about to release an animated film, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” that was handled by Warner Bros. Animation and director Kenji Kamiyama which could be just the start of their animated adaptations. The prequel set many years before the events of “The Lord of The Rings” follows the legendary Rohan King, Helm Hammerhand (voiced by “Succession” actor Brian Cox), that defends his kingdom from an army of Dunlengins and becomes the namesake of the stronghold known as Helm’s Deep that played a pivotal role in “The Two Towers.” That pic is expected to be released on April 12, 2024.