Warner Bros., Newline Announce Plans for New LORD OF THE RINGS Movies
By Movieguide® Staff
Warner Bros. and New Line recently announced plans to revisit author J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth with new LORD OF THE RINGS movies.
A new partnership with rights holders Embracer Group AB will let Warner Bros. make new feature-length movies based on Tolkein’s books.
The announcement came after CEO David Zaslev made it clear that Warner Bros. is a contender in the “franchise game,” noting that they also plan to reach out to author J.K. Rowling for future HARRY POTTER projects.
So far, Peter Jackson is the only director to have adapted Tolkein’s books into movies. Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, which was released from 2001-2003, combined for almost $3B at the box office.
The final movie, RETURN OF THE KING, earned the Oscar for best picture in 2003.
A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
RETURN OF THE KING, the final chapter of LORD OF THE RINGS, tells what further trials Frodo, Sam, and their friends must face in order to defeat the demonic forces led by Sauron. RETURN OF THE KING is one of the great movie masterpieces that weaves many biblical principles and allegorical Christian metaphors into a magnificent story, but it is too scary and intense for younger children.
Jackson returned to direct THE HOBBIT trilogy, which was released from 2012-2014.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jackson is aware of the development at Warner Bros.: “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.”
Fans of Tolkien’s beloved novels and Peter Jackson’s movie adaptations are often skeptical of new LOTR projects, as evidenced when Amazon announced their multi-season series, THE RINGS OF POWER.
However, THE RINGS OF POWER creator Patrick McKay assured fans that the series would closely align with Tolkein’s work and not try to mimic other fantasy series like GAME OF THRONES:
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER creator Patrick McKay recently assured fans that the new Amazon Prime series, which he co-created with J.D. Payne, is more than ‘vaguely connected to J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved work.
The multi-million dollar production received criticism early in its conception as loyal LOTR fans feared it would take too much creative license and ruin Tolkein’s fantasy world of elves, hobbits, orcs, wizards and more.
Read More: Amazon Studios to Spend Record-Setting $465M on Upcoming THE LORD OF THE RINGS Series
“I just want to sort of quibble with the ‘vaguely connected,’” McKay said. “We don’t feel that way. We feel like deep roots of this show are in the books and in Tolkien. And if we didn’t feel that way, we’d all be terrified to sit up here. We feel that this story isn’t ours. It’s a story we’re stewarding that was here before us and was waiting in those books to be on Earth. We don’t feel ‘vaguely connected.’ We feel deeply, deeply connected to those folks and work every day to even be closer connected. That’s really how we think about it.”
Lee Guinchard, CEO of Embracer’s Freemode, seemed aware of the pressure they would receive from fans, who want to preserve the moral value and character of Tolkein’s original writings intact.
“We understand how cherished 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 strongest level of quality and production values,” he said.
Warner Bros. execs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy added that they plan to leave Jackson’s adaptations alone: “Twenty years ago, New Line took an unprecedented leap of faith to realize the incredible stories, characters and world of The Lord of the Rings on the big screen. The result was a landmark series of films that have been embraced by generations of fans. But 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.”
Fans quickly made their opinions heard on social media, with many worrying that Tolkein’s work would be drowned in a sea of content—a problem which has recently proven to plague Marvel Studios.
“Please leave the series ALONE. PLEASE. Just let them rest in paradise,” one fan wrote.
Another added: “Ok ok we get it already ya’ll hate Tolkien. Mercy!”
Ok ok we get it already ya’ll hate Tolkien. Mercy!
— Ricky Laviña (@LavinaRicky) February 24, 2023
If major studios like Amazon and Warner Bros. want to preserve Tolkein’s work, they must include his moral, uplifting, and biblical themes that made his novels so successful.
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