New movies in the works at New Line – The Hollywood Reporter

Sean Astin and Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, released in 2001.

Courtesy Everett Collection

Warner Bros. will return. and New Line to Middle-earth, where the studio strikes a deal allowing it to develop more Lord of the rings films.

Multi-year agreement with Rights holders Embracer Group AB allow Warners to develop features based on JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the rings books and The hobbit. Swedish gaming company Embracer Group acquired the production rights Lotter movies, games, merchandise, theme park attractions and live performances when rights-holder Middle-earth Enterprises bought last year from Saul Zaentz.

The move, announced during Thursday’s Warner Bros. Discovery investor call, comes as CEO David Zaslav seeks to reassure Wall Street that Warner is a big part of the franchise game, and here it is returning to the glory days of the 2000s. The past when the studio was pulling money through Lord of the ringsAnd Harry Potter and Christopher Nolan The Dark Knight Triple. In November, Zaslav said he would like to strike a deal with writer J.K. Rowling for more Harry Potterand initially put forward the idea of ​​a Lord of the rings Back.

Directed by Peter Jackson Lord of the rings Trilogy, released from 2001-03. The series earned a total of $2.9 billion at the box office in 2003 The return of the king Winning an Academy Award for Best Picture. Jackson returned to direct The hobbit Trilogy (2012-14). New Line already has an animation feature Rohirrim war On the calendar for 2024.

The rights to Tolkien’s works have always been a bit dicey, and the legal dispute between Warner and the Tolkien estate dragged on for years before it was settled in 2017. Lord of the ringswith its huge budget rings of power debuted last year. One of the questions the new series of films will face is how to convince audiences to go to the theater if they can get their fix at home. One big difference here is that Amazon focuses on the Second Age, thousands of years before the events of the movies. The film rights have focused on the Third Age, when the most iconic events occurred and most of the beloved characters lived. It’s possible Warners can now focus on new stories that focus on Tolkien’s big guns like Gandalf, Bilbo, and Aragorn.

Of course, as much as the new films offer opportunities for big franchise twists, they will come under fan scrutiny, just as the existing Warners sequels, such as DC and Fantastic BeastsDo.

In a statement, those working on the projects acknowledged the task ahead of them.

“We understand how proud this business is and working 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,” he said. Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode, part of Embracer.

Warner Bros. film directors Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdi indicated they weren’t interested in re-reading what Jackson had already done, saying in their own statement: “Twenty years ago, New Line took an unprecedented leap of faith to realize its incredible stories, characters, and world.” the Lord of the Rings on the big screen. The result was a landmark series of films embraced by generations of fans. But for all the scope and detail lovingly packed into the two trilogies, the vast, complex, and awe-inspiring universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored in the film. The opportunity to invite fans to delve deeper into the cinematic world of Middle-earth is an honor, and we’re excited to partner with Middle-earth Enterprise and Embracer on this adventure.”

The deal isn’t just homecoming Lotter But also Di Luca’s reunion. He was the CEO of New Line when it was the first film in the previous trilogy, Fellowship of the RingProduction began, but was abandoned before the film was released.