Warner Bros. Discovery to Produce New 'Lord of the Rings' Film Series

Feb. 24, 2023

NEW YORK – Warner Bros. Discovery is set to produce new films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s characters from “The Lord of the Rings.”

The announcement was made by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav during an earnings call, that noted that studio heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy signed a deal to produce the series of films.

In the agreement with Freemode, a division of Swedish entertainment company Embracer Group, which acquired the movie rights to Tolkien’s work last August, the studio will produce the movies with sister company New Line Cinema and Freemode,

The effort will mean “expanding upon the much-loved world and characters of Middle-earth,” a statement released by Embracer read.

New Line and Warner Bros. Animation are already in production on an anime movie “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” which focuses on a story set 183 years before the events of “The Lord of the Rings,” as it recounts the fate of Helm Hammerhand, a King of Rohan.

Jackson and his collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens said in a statement that Warner Bros. and Embracer have kept them “in the loop” as the effort with the new films moves forward.

Jackson’s original “Lord of the Rings” trilogy was released between 2001 and 2003, earning 17 Academy Awards and nearly $3 billion in box office revenue.