Lord Of The Rings Fans Need To Buckle Up For A Future Filled With Even More Tolkien Movies
The future seems brighter than ever for "Lord of the Rings" fans. September 2022 will see the debut of Amazon Prime Video's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," a prequel series that will explore the Second Age of Middle-earth, roughly some millennia before Frodo Baggins was whisked away on a journey to bring down the nefarious Sauron. Though details are slim on the show, fans can expect to see the origins of iconic characters like Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), Elrond (Robert Aramayo), and Isildur (Maxim Baldry). "The Rings of Power" is a massive bet for Amazon, which has already invested a billion dollars into it (via Vanity Fair).
Amazon naturally gained confidence in the endeavor after director Peter Jackson managed to do the impossible by bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's books to life with his live-action adaptations that dominated the box office in the 2000s and 2010s (via Box Office Mojo). No Tolkien-related project has hit the big screen since 2014's Warner Bros. produced "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies." That will change a decade later when the film studio releases the animated "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" into cinemas.
Up until recently, the future of Tolkien's majestical Middle-earth seemed limited in projects, relegated to a streaming series and animated film. That is until now, as "Lord of the Rings" fans can anticipate a steady dose of Middle-earth in their future pop culture diet.
The Embracer Group now owns the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit
The Embracer Group has acquired Middle-earth Enterprises from The Saul Zaentz Company. Middle-earth Enterprises, previously known as Tolkien Enterprises, owns the rights to "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies. Embracer Group, one of Sweden's largest media holding companies, can now adapt certain aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's literary world for movies, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions. "I am truly excited to have 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit,' one of the world's most epic fantasy franchises join the Embracer family," said CEO Lars Wingefors in a statement. The statement went on to note that Embracer subsidiary Asmodee, a French board game, cards, and RPG publisher, already licenses "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" for its various games.
While there's no definitive timeline when any new Tolkien-related projects in any medium could manifest, Embracer has teased its plans, and they're extremely specific. The company plans on creating films that focus on "iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn and other characters from the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien."
What does this mean for Amazon Prime Video's upcoming series "The Rings of Power?" The press release specifically mentions that the company has a "financial interest" in the Amazon project. Seeing as "The Lord of the Rings" prequel series has a five-season plan, it's fair to assume that Embracer will be heavily invested in the show's trajectory. With Prime Video already home to the first major Tolkien adaptation in nearly a decade, it's possible that future live-action Middle-earth films could exclusively air on the service, but that remains to be seen.