Image: Warner Bros.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is getting a few sequels, and Peter Jackson could be involved.
Warner Bros. Studios and New Line are bringing us back to Middle-earth, whether we like it or not. During a Warner Bros. Discovery investor call this week, CEO David Zaslav announced that the company intends to make more Lord of the Rings films thanks to a new deal with rights holders Embracer Group.
Embracer Group is a Swedish gaming company that has been on a buying spree across the entertainment industry to acquire game studios and rights to popular IP. Readers might recognise such names as THQ Nordic (Biomutant), Gearbox Entertainment (Borderlands) and Deep Silver (Dead Island) as just a few companies that now come under its vast corporate umbrella.
Embracer acquired the rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise in 2022 when it purchased Middle-earth Enterprises, thus allowing the company to make movies, videogames, merchandise, live performances, theme park attractions and more based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary stories. The next installment in the franchise has already been in the works for a long time: an animated movie called the War of the Rohirrim, set for release in 2024 under New Line.
The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit director Peter Jackson, along with his filmmaking partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens noted that they were aware of these franchise plans with a statement:
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.
It sounds like the creators of the original trilogy will be creatively involved in some capacity as The Lord of the Rings continues to have a life on the big screen. These future movies will also have to compete with Amazon Prime Video’s The Rings of Power series, which follows the Second Age of Middle-Earth, long before the events of the main trilogy of books.
Warner Bros. could always choose to make sequels of the main films following characters like Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli - given that the appendix of The Return of the King dives into their future adventures quite extensively, but the actual quality of these stories is up in the air.
Warner Bros. film execs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy have, at least, confirmed that the new movies won’t be a redo of Peter Jackson’s movies:
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.
Embracer also has the rights to make Lord of the Rings videogames and with so many studios under its belt, we'll probably see Tolkien's universe expand via multiple new games soon enough.
