We are about to be bombarded with a lot of Lord of the Rings content! It was recently announced that Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema were going to be developing new films based on the stories created by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is on top of the epic The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series that Amazon is developing. They’ve already released Season 1, and there are four more seasons set to come. Then there’s the anime film in development, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
So, over the next several years, The Lord of the Rings content is going to consistently be pumped out. During a recent interview with Variety, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke was asked if we might be approaching too much Lord of the Rings for the market, and this was her response:
“We’ll see. We love our original series. We’re extremely proud of it, and invested long-term. So, we definitely think there’s enough fan love to sustain ours for a long time.”
So, she’s definitely 100% committed to The Rings of Power. I was actually wondering what everyone at Amazon was thinking when the news of the new Lord of the Rings films hit. I can’t help but think they are a little pissed off about it because they only get to work with the appendices, while WB gets to work with the main meat of the stories.
It was previously explained that the “incomparable world of J.R.R. Tolkien back is coming back to the big screen in new and exciting ways. We understand how cherished these works are, and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, we plan to honor the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values.”
It was also explained, “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.” These new films will explore more of the Middle Earth universe, which is sure to be fascinating.
There’s no word on if Peter Jackson and his team will return to be a part of these films, but as of right now, they are “in the loop.” In a statement released Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, said: “Warner Brothers 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.”
While these films are being developed, Amazon Studio will be spending over a billion dollars to develop five seasons of The Rings of Power, and they are currently in the middle of shooting Season 2.