The Lord of the Rings, new films in development! Confirmed by Warner Bros

Many will jump out of their seats on reading this news, and it’s not a rumor but it definitely has the flavor of officiality. Warner Bros has confirmed it will work for relaunch the Lord of the Rings franchise, producing new films set in the fantasy world of Ardaborn from the prolific mind of JRR Tolkien.

The confirmation came during the recent quarterly results conference on Thursday, when Warner Bros. CEO Discovery David Zaslav announced that Warner Bros. Pictures leaders, Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have negotiated a deal to make “more” movies based on JRR Tolkien’s books. They will be made in collaboration with Freemode, the division of the Embracer Group which has concluded the adaptive rights agreement for some of Tolkien’s books, including ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’. Here are the words of the CEO of Freemode, Lee Guinchard.

“Following our recent acquisition of Middle-earth Enterprises, we are thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of JRR Tolkien to the big screen in new and exciting ways. We understand how much these works are appreciated, and by collaborating together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, we intend to honor the past, look to the future and adhere to the highest level of quality and production values.”

Another good news is that the projects will be developed through the WB label, New Line Cinema, the same one that made the first film trilogy successful. The Lord of the Ringsdirected by Peter Jackson, which grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide (also the follow-up based on the book The Hobbit got similar receipts).

However, it must be said that no director’s name has been indicated, although in a statement released to Variety, Peter Jackson (director of the first two trilogies) and his main collaborators, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, said they were constantly updated on developments by Warner Bros. It is not clear whether or not there will be their involvement, but it will almost certainly be a topic of discussion for the months to come.

Needless to say, no details on the titles, plots or possible release dates of the next films have been revealed, but of course it is assumed that they will be connected to the original trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, but sooner or later in time? The TV series The Rings of Power of Amazon Pime Video has begun to explore the events of the Second Age, but as readers of de The Silmarillionthere would be a lot of material to develop.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. already has at least one other project related to the world of de The Lord of the Rings: as previously announced, this is the animated prequel The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrima film set 183 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings and centered on the story of the king of the Rohirrim, Helm Hammerhand. The film will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama and produced by New Line and Warner Bros. Animation.