With all the excitement over Amazon's Rings of Power TV series, it's easy to forget there's another cinematic slice of Tolkien also in production. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated film set roughly 250 years before the events of the movie trilogy and depicts the adventures of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary king of Rohan and the builder of the great fortress of Helm's Deep.
The film was announced last year, with Kenji Kamiyama directing for Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema and Sola Entertainment. Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote and produced the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie trilogies, is producing. Her daughter Phoebe Gittins and writing partner Arty Papageorgiou have written the script. Richard Taylor and John Howe, who worked on the art design for the previous live-action Middle-earth movies, are doing the same for this project. Peter Jackson has given the project his blessing.
However, a Variety article seemingly backs up speculation that the primary reason for making the film is so Warner Brothers can retain its hold on the franchise feature film rights, which they licenced from the Saul Zaentz Company in 1997 to enable production of the Peter Jackson films. Last week, the Saul Zaentz Company confirmed it had regained control of the film rights, which they claim lapsed in 2020, and are now putting them up for sale with a reported price of $2 billion. Warner Brothers are reportedly extremely unhappy about this and are in negotiations with the Saul Zaentz Company. If there is not a satisfactory resolution, legal action may follow.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will hit theatres on 12 April, 2024.
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