WB had tried to recapture the magic of the Lord of the Rings films with the Hobbit trilogy, but even when they brought back Peter Jackson, the films never managed to be as huge as the original films. With WB’s new CEO looking to kickstart several dormant franchises like Harry Potter, it looks like LOTR will be making a return to the big screen.
As per Variety, WB has landed a deal with Embracer Group to produce ‘multiple films based on the beloved J.R.R. Tolkien books.’ We don’t have any specific details of what projects could be in development, but it has been said that original trilogy heads Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens have been ‘kept in the loop every step of the way.’
With the most popular of Tolkien’s books having already been adapted, a lot of fans wonder what the new films could possible be about. Amazon Prime Video had already choses to go back to the Second Age of Middle-earth when it came to their Rings of Power series, so where could these spinoff properties with WB lead? Solo movies for Aragorn or Gandalf? What about an attempt to tell a story after the events of The Lord of the Rings?
With a franchise as beloved as Lord of the Rings, I can already imagine a lot of people will not be pleased whatever direction the new films would go, but as long as they embrace the core themes of the original property like the preservation of nature and love for the importance of fellowship, I think there’s a good chance to usher in a new era of LOTR content.
No release date has been set for WB’s new LOTR films, but you can catch Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
