Over the weekend, J.R.R. Tolkien fans got their first glimpse at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, a new Amazon Prime Video original series. However, it’s not the only LOTR project on the horizon. Via Variety, Warner Bros. Animation and New Line Cinema have set a date for the animated film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. It will now premiere in theaters on April 12, 2024.
It’s important to note that The Rings of Power and The War of the Rohirrim have no direct connection since the LOTR TV and film rights are separated. And while The Rings of Power takes place thousands of years before the trilogy of films, The War of the Rohirrim is set only two hundred years before The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Rohirrim were fierce warriors who were introduced in The Two Towers, and they fought alongside Aragorn and the Fellowship at Helm’s Deep. The War of the Rohirrim will follow Rohan’s legendary king, Helm Hammerhand, and depict the creation of Helm’s Deep.
Warner Bros. has called The War of the Rohirrim an anime film, and that’s not a misnomer. The anime studio Sola Entertainment is providing the animation, and the film will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama, an anime veteran whose credits include the recent series Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou wrote the screenplay based on a script by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Gittins actually has a family connection to the original trilogy through her mother, Philippa Boyens, the co-writer of the films. Boyens is also attached to this project as an executive producer. LOTR makeup and visual effects artist Richard Taylor and Tolkien illustrator John Howe are also a part of the creative team for the new animated film.
Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich shared a new statement to accompany the film’s release date.
“The Lord of the Rings films took Tolkien’s masterwork to new cinematic heights and inspired a generation. It’s a gift to be able to revisit Middle-earth with many of the same creative visionaries and the talented Kenji Kamiyama at the helm. This will be an epic portrayal unlike anything audiences have ever seen.”
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