Warner Bros. Discovery have announced their intent to make further films in The Lord of the Rings film canon, but Peter Jackson and fellow cowriters of the trilogy have some surprisingly positive things to say about the development.
Jackson’s role in bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s works to live-action is nothing to be sneezed at. The driven and unforgiving filmmaker somehow turned a very dense book series into top-of-the-litter popcorn entertainment and cemented the series in pop culture. While the reputation was slightly sullied by the overwhelming nothing The Hobbit trilogy which caused countless issues for Jackson, he and fellow scribes Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have very encouraging remarks for Warner Bros.
A spokesperson for the trio says they’ve been kept in the loop for the plans for a while, stating they’re hopeful and interested in speaking with them about the future of the franchise. Read into this as you will, given Jackson didn’t have any part with Amazon’s The Rings of Power series – reportedly due to a request from the Tolkien Estate.
“Warner Bros. and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way. We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.”
Warner Bros. acquired the film rights from Swedish gaming company Embracer Group to make further films in Middle-earth, with CEO David Zaslav harkening back to the company’s glory days of major franchise releases like Harry Potter, Batman, and Lord of the Rings. Whether there’s actually an appetite for Potter or Middle-earth is hard to gauge.
The Wizarding World has is caught in the culture wars thanks to J.K. Rowling’s reprehensible transphobic rhetoric, while The Hobbit films didn’t deliver the magic of the first trilogy and The Rings of Power faded away quickly after season one finished. Should Jackson return again to Middle-earth, you’d hope it isn’t ulcer-inducing like The Hobbit trilogy was.
