Warner Bros. Discovery To Create New ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ Films That Will “Honor The Past, Look To The Future, And Adhere To The Strongest Level Of Quality”
John F. Trent
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Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced during the company’s Q4 2022 Earnings Call that the company will be making “multiple” new The Lord of the Rings films.
Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Karl Urban as Eomer in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), New Line Cinema
Zaslav said, “Today, I’m thrilled to announce that Mike [de Luca] and Pam [Abdy] signed a deal to make multiple Lord of the Rings movies. Lord of the Rings is one of the most iconic storytelling franchises of all time. And we’re so excited.”
Following Zaslav’s announcement on the earnings call. De Luca and Abdy issued a statement to Variety indicating that Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings world “remains largely unexplored.”
The duo detailed that New Line Cinema and director Peter Jackson “took an unprecedented leap of faith to realize the incredible stories, characters and world of The Lord of the Rings on the big screen … but for all the scope and detail lovingly packed into the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored.”
Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Bernard Hill as Theoden in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
On top of De Luca and Abdy’s comments, Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode, the company that holds the rights to The Lord of the Rings when it comes to films, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions, also told the outlet, “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.”
He added, “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.”
Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line Cinema did not announce what they would be adapting for these new films or who would be involved in bringing them to the big screen creatively. However, Variety notes that they are keeping Peter Jackson and his original The Lord of the Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in the loop.
The trio informed Variety that Warner Bros. and Freemode “have kept us in the loop every step of the way.”
They also added, “We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.”
The Council of Elrond in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition (2002), Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. Discovery is currently working on an adaptation of the story of Helm Hammerhand titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The anime-inspired film adapts a short story Tolkien included in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings.
It follows Helm Hammerhand as he defends Rohan from a number of enemies including Corsairs, the Dunlendings, and “enemies of Gondor that landed in the mouths of Lefnui and Isen.” After an initial defeat at the hands of his rival, Wulf, and the Dunlendings, Helm and his forces flees to the Hornburg where they not only deal with a siege, but also the Long Winter.
While Helm and his forces attempt to survive, Wulf and his forces attack Helm’s son Haleth at Edoras and take the city. After losing his second son in a sortie to find food after the Long Winter had set in at the Hornburg, Helm would single-handedly wage a war of terror on the enemies besieging the fortress.
The film is expected to arrive in theaters on April 12, 2024.
Cate Blanchett as Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
There are plenty of other areas of Tolkien works that Warner Bros. Discovery could adapt including numerous stories published in the posthumous work, The Silmarillion. As well as the stories included in The History of Middle-earth that was published by Tolkien’s son, Christopher, in the years following his father’s death. There is also Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales.
There is also a possibility that Peter Jackson’s original The Lord of the Rings trilogy gets remade. For all of Jackson’s attention to detail that films are missing key moments from Tolkien’s novels including the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s encounter with Tom Bombadil.
Bernard Hill as King Theoden in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King via Göksel Köksal YouTube
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