One of the big announcements on the movie scene so far in 2023. Warner Bros. and New Line have announced that we will have a return to Middle-earth on the big screen with several Lord of the Rings movies, as revealed from The Hollywood Reporter.
First of all, both companies have reached an agreement with Embracer Group AB, the Swedish multinational that owns the rights. In this way, they have achieved the possibility of develop films based on JRR Tolkien’s books. This operation has been revealed during the call with the investors of Warner Bros. Discovery and with the adviser David Zaslav assuring that the company wants to recover the glory of yesteryear with franchises such as Batman or Harry Potter.
“We understand how appreciated 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 highest level of quality and production values,” he said. Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode, which is part of Embracer. Of course, we can be clear that we will not see a new version of the adventures with which Peter Jackson amazed us in the 2000s. This is stated by both Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, heads of Warner Bros:
“Twenty years ago, New Line took an unprecedented leap of faith to bring the incredible stories, characters and world of The Lord of the Rings to the big screen. The result was a series of landmark films that have been embraced by generations of fans.Yet for all the scope and detail of the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by JRR Tolkien remains largely unexplored in cinema.The opportunity to invite fans To step into the cinematic world of Middle-earth is an honor, and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with Middle-earth Enterprises and Embracer on this adventure.”
right now the concoction regarding the rights of The Lord of the Rings is curious. Embracer purchased the rights to movies, games, merchandise, theme parks and live action productions in 2022 after purchasing them from The Saul Zaentz Company. Right now, New Line has the release of The War of the Rohirrim marked on the calendar for 2024, an animated film. However, Amazon must be included in the equation, which owns the television rights and has already exploited them with The Rings of Power on its streaming platform.