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New Trailer: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim - anime prequel movie opens 12/13/24

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'The Lord of the Rings' is getting an anime prequel movie about Rohan

Helm Hammerhand, namesake of the legendary fortress Helm's Deep, will be the focus of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
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The Lord of the Rings is getting an anime prequel movie about Rohan

Helm Hammerhand, namesake of the legendary fortress Helm's Deep, will be the focus of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
By Christian Holub
June 10, 2021 at 03:17 PM EDT


"The horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in the deep one last time." So spoke King Theoden (Bernard Hill) of Rohan during the climax of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Soon, viewers will understand exactly what he meant.

New Line Cinema announced on Thursday that they were teaming up with Warner Bros. Animation to produce an original anime feature set years before the events of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, this anime film will explore a key feature of Middle-earth: The legendary fortress Helm's Deep, subject of one of the best battles in either Jackson's films or J.R.R. Tolkien's books. Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan for whom Helm's Deep is named, will be the central figure of War of the Rohirrim.

The project will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and written by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance). Though they may be new to Middle-earth, veteran screenwriter Philippa Boyens - who co-wrote the original Lord of the Rings films alongside Jackson and Fran Walsh - is serving as a consultant on the project.

Boyens won't be the only connection between War of the Rohirrim and the live-action films. Though a standalone story, this prequel will weave in "story and artistic elements" connecting it to the larger tapestry of Middle-earth. Its announcement also comes the same year that The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in Jackson's original trilogy, celebrates its 20th anniversary.

"This will be yet another epic portrayal of J.R.R. Tolkien's world that has never been told before. We're honored to partner with much of the incredible talent behind both film trilogies, along with new creative luminaries to tell this story," Warner Bros. Animation President Sam Register said in a statement. He then quoted King Theoden's line at the beginning of the siege of Helm's Deep: "And so it begins."

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is being fast-tracked for the big screen by New Line, with animation work and voice casting already underway.
 
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Lord of the Rings' Biggest Battle May Be in Court - Not Middle-earth
With the news of Zaentz Co.'s plans to shop the Tolkien portfolio, a new battle in court with Warner Bros. may be looming on the horizon.

BY AVERIE WATSONPUBLISHED 1 DAY AGO

The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies are known for their epic battles, like the battle for Minas Tirith and the Battle of the Five Armies. When it comes to a franchise so ingrained in a medieval high fantasy setting, it can be hard to imagine it in a real-world context. However, the biggest Lord of the Rings battle may be coming up soon -- but instead of a classic battle between two armies, this potential conflict would be between teams of lawyers.

Warner Bros. currently owns the film rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise. The original Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies were both distributed by the studio between 2001 and 2014. Warner Bros. also recently announced that it has partnered with New Line Cinema to create The War of the Rohirrim, a stand-alone anime adaptation about Helm Hammerhand, the ninth king of Rohan. The movie is set before the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and will be directed by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex director Kenji Kamiyama.


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The Saul Zaentz Company acquired the Tolkien portfolio in the mid-1970s, around the time of J.R.R. Tolkien's death. Zaentz Co. initially licensed the Lord of the Rings film rights to Peter Jackson, which gave him the opportunity to create the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies. However, Zaentz Co. is reportedly shopping the entire Tolkien portfolio, which includes movies, video games, merchandise and theme parks. This doesn't bode well for Warner Bros., which plans to release The War of the Rohirrim in 2024.

Warner Bros. is currently insisting that it met its contractual obligations to retain the film rights by frequently releasing new installments of the property, working in a timely manner and constantly paying Zaentz Co. on time. A Warner Bros. spokeswoman told Variety that "New Line Cinema has maintained the theatrical film rights, both live-action and animated, for over two decades now" in an article released this month, which may be a factor in the studio's belief that it should be allowed to keep the film rights.


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Zaentz Co.'s decision to shop the Tolkien portfolio could have major consequences for the upcoming The War of the Rohirrim movie. If Warner Bros. loses the film rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise, the movie could either be picked up by whichever film studio buys the rights to the Tolkien portfolio, or the movie could be cancelled. This is especially disappointing for Lord of the Rings fans, as the movie had already been announced back in June 2021, and concept art for the project was released earlier this month.

The current state of the negotiations between Zaentz Co. and Warner Bros. is unclear. The two companies are holding a private mediation to discuss the disagreement over the franchise rights and to decide whether Warner Bros. has met the requirements to keep the license to movie adaptations of Tolkien's works. While this dispute will most likely affect the future of film adaptations of Tolkien's works, it will not affect The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which is set to start streaming on Amazon Prime in Sep. 2022, as this series is the product of a deal between Amazon and the Tolkien estate.

The Lord of the Rings franchise is highly profitable, with the original Lord of the Rings movie trilogy grossing nearly $3 billion worldwide. From Zaentz Co.'s perspective, it makes sense to consider selling the franchise to a new film studio, as it could potentially generate more income from the already successful property. From Warner Bros.' perspective, having the Lord of the Rings film rights stripped away so suddenly would result in a huge loss for the company. There can only be one winner in this battle for the rights to the franchise -- and this battle could potentially be bigger than anything we've seen on-screen.
 

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