Among the many things The Lord of the Rings teaches us is to watch out for big eyes. Like clockwork, we seem to be entering the Third Age of Warner Bros’ Middle-earth as the screen giant greenlights new movies. Eyes as big as Sauron’s flaming peeper are all over what this means for the future of J.R.R. Tolkien’s saga on screen.
Lots have changed in Middle-Earth since Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy scooped plaudits and awards at the turn of the century. The long-anticipated live-action adaptations of Tolkien’s three tomes, and his earlier story, The Hobbit, have reached movie theaters, snapping up a global haul of almost $6 billion. The Rings sequence was produced and distributed by New Line Cinema, while The Hobbit was released by Warner Bros. Pictures and produced by New Line, which by that time had become a subsidiary of WB.
Amazon swept up the rights to bring Middle-earth to streaming with great fanfare. The Rings of Power was a lavish adaptation that brought Tolkien’s world to the small screen with a famously record-breaking budget (getting on for $1 billion).
With the quests of Bilbo Baggins and his nephew, Frodo, already etched in live-action, and Amazon drawing out tales from millennia before, news that Warner Bros is returning to the Tolkien universe has everyone wondering what stories are on the table.
There and back again
Warner Bros return to Middle-earth seemed inevitable when the CEO of new media giant, Warner Bros. Discovery, David Zaslav, signaled an aim to return to the big franchise peak that saw Warner Bros. release The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter sequences.
It’s been made possible by WB, along with New Line Cinema, signing a deal with Middle-Earth Enterprises, which was purchased by Swedish media holding company Embracer Group AB in late summer 2022. The company owns specific rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, with the majority of their licenses devoted to videogames.
Is a remake of The Lord of the Rings on the horizon?
It’s early days, so we don’t know much about Warner Bros.’ plans. Another thing The Lord of the Rings tells us is that these things can take a long time. You only have to look at the protracted development of the Hobbit movies, which took so long director Guillermo del Toro stepped aside with Jackson picking up the reins. There’s a hint in official statements that a remake isn’t on the table or at least not in the same form.
Referencing the landmark series of films already in the franchise, Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs and CEOs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy didn’t miss the vast potential of Tolkien’s works:
“For all the scope and detail lovingly packed into the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored on film. The opportunity to invite fans deeper into the cinematic world of Middle-earth is an honor, and we are excited to partner with Middle-earth Enterprises and Embracer on this adventure.”
The potential of the new deal was mentioned in Embracer’s statement on the deal, too.
Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode, a subsidiary of Embracy, said:
“Following our recent acquisition of Middle-earth Enterprises, we’re thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of J.R.R. Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways.”
It’s easy to see that Warner Bros. won’t rely on a remake of the epic saga they last visited 20 years ago. Those movies still have a thriving existence, influencing video games, inspiring new LEGO sets, and providing a special reference for memes.
Most importantly, the epic fabric of Tolkien’s universe remains incredibly untapped as those two statements suggest. Frodo’s quest to destroy the One Ring in Mordor may be the most famous part, but it’s only one part of the story. Amazon’s The Rings of Power, made in conjunction with New Line Cinema, draws on a narrow range of rights while it references broader events from Tolkien’s works, including The Silmarillion, The History of Middle-earth, and Unfinished Tales.
The rights to Middle-earth
As the rights behind The Rings of Power only apply to the Third Age-set The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the exploration of the Second Age of Middle-earth had to be run through passing references, songs, and mainly the extensive appendices. Interestingly, when the Tolkien estate optioned the rights with a starting price of $200 million, another Warner subsidiary, HBO, pitched a serialized remake of The Lord of the Rings before Amazon’s vaguer plans beat them.
The new film rights secured by Warner similarly lean on Tolkien’s two most famous works, and it seems likely that exploration of different parts of the saga will have to draw on references, much like Amazon’s series. The Rings of Power production team, warming up a second season to be released in 2023 or 2024, doesn’t seem too worried about sharing the canon.Talking to Variety about the news, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke referred to the immense love for Tolkien’s tales, saying, “We love our original series. We’re extremely proud of it and invested long term, so we definitely think there’s enough fan love to sustain ours for a long time.”
We’ll undoubtedly soon discover how constrained or open Warner’s new rights are and where they plan to take Middle-earth next. There may be a simpler route to exploring Tolkien’s tales and myths of the First Age recounted in The Silmarillion, which Tolkien’s son, Christopher, edited and published in 1977.
As for Jackson, whose name is always attached to any talk of Tolkien’s works thanks to his phenomenal work on all The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies, is similarly open to Warner’s new adventures in Middle-earth. In fact, he and fellow LOTR screenwriters, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, had been aware of the plans for some time and “look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.”
By all accounts, goodwill is there in fandom and between Middle-earth’s stakeholders. It may be time for Gandalf to fetch the fireworks.