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Almost a century has passed since JRR Tolkien The Hobbit was first published and yet the fantasy world that the author introduced in this seminal novel continues to inspire fans and creators everywhere. Concrete example, yet another new chapter in the Middle-earth saga is in preparation under the name of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.
Although this next film is obviously part of the film franchise of the Lord of the Rings movies which director Peter Jackson helmed, it looks like it will be an almost entirely new experience for even the most die-hard fans of the mythology, in the sense of both its narrative and its visuals. For a better understanding of what we mean by this, read on to learn about all the most essential facts we know so far about The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim — starting with the beginning of this journey.
When is Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim released?
While I’m sure there are Tolkien fans out there who want the latest feature film based on the world of Middle-earth to appear on our 2023 Film Schedule, the end of this wait is not so near. According to an exclusive report by VarietyNew Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation have set up April 12, 2024 as the official release date of The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.
The film hits theaters almost exactly a decade after the last time a Tolkien story was adapted for the big screen, with 2014 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – the third and final installment in Peter Jackson’s trilogy inspired by the 1937 novel that started it all. However, the most recent title defined on Middle-earth was the Amazon Prime Original TV Show, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerwhich also has a second season in preparation. Not to mention, The Rohirrim War is not the only upcoming installment of the popular fantasy franchise as there is also a new movie trilogy in development.
Brian Cox directs the voice cast
THE the Lord of the Rings movies (including The Hobbit Trilogy) have always had the advantage of a talented ensemble of actors to bring Tolkien’s most iconic characters to life – like Sir Ian McKellan, who was cast perfectly as the wizard Gandalf the Grey. According DeadlineTHE The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim The cast will enjoy the same level of esteem with Emmy winner Brian Cox lending his voice to the lead role of King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. In an interview with popular LOTR Blog, The one ringexecutive producer Philippa Boyens shared her interesting connection to the Succession actor – after once hearing a rave review of his 1987 stage performance in Titus Andronicus by friends – and, in the following excerpt, explained how it led to his casting:
And they talked about how his rage was fueled by that grief. And the underlying horror that was in the storytelling. And that resonated with me when we thought about the role of Helm. Because it’s just – it covers a lot of different emotions.
THE The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim the voice cast also includes Gaia Wise (from 2015 A walk in the woods fame) as Hammerhand’s daughter, Hera; 2013 snowdrops star Luke Pasqualino plays Wulf (a character previously portrayed in Tolkien-inspired video games); and franchise veteran Miranda Otto reprising her role as Éowyn, but as the story’s narrator this time.
Other actors who will star in currently unspecified roles include Bridgerton discard member Lorraine Ashbourne; Yazdan Qafouri of Netflix’s British Thriller, I came; Benjamin Wainwright (best known for BBC One’s world on fire); and Laurence Ubong Williams from the horror film 2021, bridge). Also lend their voice the witcher discard member Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman (whose last film was Fast and Furious Gifts: Hobbs & Shaw), Jude Akuwudike of beasts of no nationBilal Hasna from Hulu’s fantasy comedy series, Extraordinaryand veteran actress Janine Duvitski, who is known for films like About a boy and Terence Malick The new World.
The film is an anime-style prequel to the original trilogy.
At the top of this article, we teased that The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim was going to be different from previous installments of the iconic franchise, especially in how different it looks to anything Tolkien fans have yet seen. To be more precise, the film is not presented in live-action, but in Anime-style Japanese animation. So aesthetically it will be very different from the 1977 Rankin and Bass TV movie based on The Hobbit and Ralph Bakshi’s feature film adaptation of the Lord of the Rings next year’s trilogy.
According to the previously mentioned Variety article, the film is also a prequel to Peter Jackson’s original. LOTR films, set over a century earlier and following Brian Cox’s character, Helm Hammerhand, and the creation of the fortress depicted in The two towers known as “Helm’s Deep”. In his interview with The One Ring, Boyens said of the film, “It’s not about the Ring, it’s not about the Dark Lord. All of this is very peripheral to the story.
Veteran animator Kenji Kamiyama directs
In charge of reinterpreting the world of Tolkien’s work with a whole new look is an esteemed veteran of the medium. Also according to the aforementioned Variety article, Kenji Kamiyama has been tapped to direct The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.
The legendary artist has a career that spans decades and includes famous titles from the anime scene – like one of best animated movies of all time1988 Akira. More recently, he worked on an episode of the star wars spin-off of an anthology television show, Visions; wrote and directed Adult Swim’s anime prequel series to blade runner, Black Lotus (which also starred Brian Cox); and served as editor on Netflix’s hit animated series, Ghost in the shell SAC_2045.
Philippa Boyens, co-writer of the LOTR trilogy, is the executive producer
Variety’s exclusive report above also confirms that Philippa Boyens is an executive producer on The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. She has one of the closest ties to Middle-earth than anyone else involved in the project.
The New Zealand native was a frequent collaborator with Peter Jackson for years – including as one of the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s co-writers for the LOTR trilogy and for the Hobbit movies. She also worked with Jackson and Fran Walsh on the script for 2005 King Kong redoadaptation in 2009 of Alice Sebold’s novel, The beautiful bonesand 2018 Deadly Engines.
On the other hand, it does not appear that Peter Jackson is involved in The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. However, despite that, with the talent involved, this movie could still be something really precious.