Audiences are set for another return to the world of Middle-earth, following a massive new deal which sees Warner Bros. given the license to make more cinematic entries to J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantastical world of The Lord of the Rings.
Following the televisual success of The Rings of Power, entertainment companies are more than happy to cash in again on Tolkien’s universe with Warner Bros. acquiring the film rights to the Lord of the Rings universe. The company has made a deal with Embracer Group AB to produce films, following the Swedish company acquiring the series mostly to produce video games.
The move is part of Warner CEO David Zaslav’s crusade-like mentality to get the company back to its ’90s and ’00s glory days, reclaiming rights and signing new deals with its most popular franchises from yesteryear. Zaslav had already spoken of his interest in working with J.K. Rowling for more Wizarding World films in Nov. 22, and also had hopes of working on another Middle-earth project.
The newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery has been a mess at best, and an often unmitigated disaster at its worst. Animated shows and HBO Max originals have been culled for cost-cutting (most notably Batgirl), while its DC properties were left on the verge of collapse again following Black Adam. The ship appears to be steadied now for the most part, but the Lord of the Rings deal is an interesting one.
The Hobbit trilogy was a development hell-residing series for many years, with production seeing countless issues often related to budget and studio interference. Peter Jackson is almost certainly not going back to Middle-earth again as a director, so the new films will need to find a new authoritative auteur to guide the franchise back to success.
Whether there’s truly much hunger for Lord of the Rings without Jackson doesn’t seem very clear. Amazon Prime’s The Rings of Power was mostly a success, but didn’t have anywhere near the impact it should have had given its outlandish budget. Time will tell, as will fan reaction to the news of further films. Not every deal can be Disney acquiring Lucasfilm – but even that has had major detractors.
