Warner Bros.'s trilogy of films based on The Lord of the Rings is one of the most financially successful and critically acclaimed movie franchises of all time. But an entirely new medium is jumping into the fray, as an animated prequel film set before the events of the main trilogy has been announced to be in the works by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema.
This is the first time Lord of the Rings has ever been adapted through the medium of animation since 1978 when a film by animation legend Ralph Bakshi was released in theaters by United Artists. That version of Lord of the Rings received mixed critical reception and is not nearly as beloved as live-action films made by Warner Bros. in the 21st century. This will also be the first film based on Lord of the Rings released in theaters since 2014's The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies.
The animated prequel officially titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, will tell a story that is set 250 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, focusing on Helm Hammerhand, a character who was once the King of Rohan. The film will adapt legendary events described in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings books, in which the fortress of Helm's Deep is created and defended by Hammerhand and his troops.
Warner Bros. Animation is involved with the project along with New Line Cinema. Kenji Kamiyama, a writer and director of multiple anime projects including Blood: The Last Vampire, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Napping Princess, has been tapped to direct the film (at a time when he has also signed on to direct the series Blade Runner: Black Lotus for Crunchyroll and Adult Swim.) Jeffrey Adiss and Will Matthews, two writers from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, are penning the script, with Philippa Boyens, one of the screenwriters from the original film trilogy, serving as a consultant. Animation work is being completed in part by Sola Entertainment, a company that had a hand in the productions of the Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 series for Netflix as well as recent anime hits like Tower of God and The God of High School.
The Lord of the Rings series spawned a renewed cultural interest in the fantasy genre, while also spawning more media projects revolving around J.R.R. Tolkien's legendary novel, including a follow-up movie trilogy based on The Hobbit, a series of LEGO video games, and two Middle-Earth video games (Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War). On top of that, Amazon is hard at work developing a series taking place in the world of Lord of the Rings.
The decision to develop a Lord of the Rings animated film and enlist an anime filmmaker to direct it signifies a bold new approach on behalf of Warner Bros. Animation. The film will be releasing at a time when fans might be hungry for more Lord of the Rings content, and the potential will also be there to take the project in a more mature direction than recent Warner Bros. animated films like Storks, Scoob!, and Smallfoot. Fans of animated films and fans of Lord of the Rings will undoubtedly be keeping an eye on this project.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Source: WarnerMedia