Haven't Got Enough 'Rings' Content? Anime Feature 'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' Rides Into Theaters April 2024
24 hours after Amazon released its highly-anticipated trailer for "The Lord of the Rings: Rings Of Power," Warner Bros. set the release date for its anime feature "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" for April 12, 2024.
Taking place two centuries before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the film follows Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and the creation of Helm's Deep, the major fortress featured heavily in Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" film.
Interestingly, while there's been much less attention directed towards the New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation feature, compared to the Amazon series, "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" retains much of the creative team behind the beloved Peter Jackson films. Not only is Philippa Boyens, one of the three screenwriters of the original film trilogy, executive producing, but her daughter, Phoebe Gittins, and writing partner Arty Papageorgiou wrote the screenplay. Additionally, Richard Taylor, the man behind the original film trilogy's Oscar-winning makeup and visual effects, Alan Lee, who won an Oscar for art direction for the films, and long-time Tolkien illustrator John Howe are involved as well.
Newcomers to the creative team include famed Japanese anime director Kenji Kamiyama, who worked as a background artist for the legendary "Akira" film and Hayao Miyazaki's "Kiki's Delivery Service" before going on to direct multiple seasons of the anime series "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and "Blade Runner: Black Lotus." Joseph Chou, who produced "Blade Runner: Black Lotus" is also producing "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" through his anime studio Sola Entertainment. With such a talented, rock star creative team, we're looking forward to what the anime feature will bring to "The Lord of the Rings" universe.
Warner Bros. move to drum up interest in "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" comes among drama between the production company and Saul Zaentz Co., the longtime owner of "LOTR" film and TV rights, over whether Warner Bros. has done enough with the film rights to retain the rights to develop the IP. In a move that has generate buzz, Saul Zaentz Co. is getting ready to put the "LOTR" film and TV rights for sale.
Additionally, Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power" is set to become the most expensive TV series ever produced and has not been pulling any punches when it comes to generating publicity. Though the two "LOTR" projects are unrelated, it's hard not to see these upcoming releases as competition, with one project retaining the creative team behind the original films, while the other having the well-funded Amazon machine behind it. Only time will tell which bid to capitalize on the post-"Game of Thrones" high fantasy vacuum in entertainment will ultimately pay off.
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