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New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movies in the Works at Warners, New Line

New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movies in the Works at Warners, New Line
Published 2 years ago on Feb 24, 2023

Warner Bros. and New Line are going back to Middle-earth, with the studio making a deal that will allow it to develop more Lord of the Rings movies. 

The multiyear pact with rights holders Embracer Group AB allows Warners to develop features based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books and The Hobbit. Embracer Group, the Swedish gaming company, acquired the rights to produce LOTR films, games, merchandise, theme park attractions and live productions when it purchased rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises last year from The Saul Zaentz Company.

The move, announced during Warner Bros. Discovery's  investor call Thursday, comes as CEO David Zaslav seeks to assure Wall Street that Warners is very much in the franchise game, here harking back to the 2000s glory days when the studio was minting money with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. In November, Zaslav said he would like to make a deal with author J.K. Rowling for more Harry Potter, and initiallyfloated the nation of a Lord of The Rings return. 

Peter Jackson directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, released from 2001-03. The series earned a combined $2.9 billion at the box office, with 2003’s Return of the King winning the Oscar for best picture. Jackson returned to direct The Hobbit trilogy (2012-14). New Line already had the animated feature The War of the Rohirrim on the calendar for 2024.

In a statement, Jackson and his Lord of the Rings partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens noted they were aware of the latest development. Said the trio: “Warner Bros. and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way. We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.” (Jackson previously noted that Amazon asked him to be involved on its Lord of the Rings TV show but then did not follow up.)

Rights to the Tolkien works have always been a little dicey, and a legal dispute between Warners and the Tolkien estate went on for years before being settled in 2017. A newer complicating matter from a consumer standpoint: Amazon holds the TV rights to Lord of the Rings, with with its megabudget Rings of Power debuting last year. One question the new series of films will face is how to convince audiences to go to the theater if they can get their fix at home. One big difference here is Amazon focuses on the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of the films. The movie rights have focused on the Third Age, when the best-known events happened and most beloved characters lived. It’s possible that Warners now could focus on new stories centering Tolkien’s big guns such as Gandalf, Bilbo and Aragorn.

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Warner Bros. and New Line are going back to Middle-earth, with the studio making a deal that will allow it to develop more Lord of the Rings movies. 

The multiyear pact with rights holders Embracer Group AB allows Warners to develop features based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books and The Hobbit. Embracer Group, the Swedish gaming company, acquired the rights to produce LOTR films, games, merchandise, theme park attractions and live productions when it purchased rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises last year from The Saul Zaentz Company.

The move, announced during Warner Bros. Discovery's  investor call Thursday, comes as CEO David Zaslav seeks to assure Wall Street that Warners is very much in the franchise game, here harking back to the 2000s glory days when the studio was minting money with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. In November, Zaslav said he would like to make a deal with author J.K. Rowling for more Harry Potter, and initiallyfloated the nation of a Lord of The Rings return. 

Peter Jackson directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, released from 2001-03. The series earned a combined $2.9 billion at the box office, with 2003’s Return of the King winning the Oscar for best picture. Jackson returned to direct The Hobbit trilogy (2012-14). New Line already had the animated feature The War of the Rohirrim on the calendar for 2024.

In a statement, Jackson and his Lord of the Rings partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens noted they were aware of the latest development. Said the trio: “Warner Bros. and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way. We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.” (Jackson previously noted that Amazon asked him to be involved on its Lord of the Rings TV show but then did not follow up.)

Rights to the Tolkien works have always been a little dicey, and a legal dispute between Warners and the Tolkien estate went on for years before being settled in 2017. A newer complicating matter from a consumer standpoint: Amazon holds the TV rights to Lord of the Rings, with with its megabudget Rings of Power debuting last year. One question the new series of films will face is how to convince audiences to go to the theater if they can get their fix at home. One big difference here is Amazon focuses on the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of the films. The movie rights have focused on the Third Age, when the best-known events happened and most beloved characters lived. It’s possible that Warners now could focus on new stories centering Tolkien’s big guns such as Gandalf, Bilbo and Aragorn.

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