‘Lord of the Rings’ Anime Coming to Theaters
Warner Bros. and New Line have announced that an anime feature film based on The Lord of the Rings is in production. The film, titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama. The anime-styled film is on the production fast-track, with animation by Sola Entertainment.
Voice casting is currently underway, but a release date has not been set. The animated film will be set in the Lord of the Rings cinematic universe created by Peter Jackson, but he is currently not involved with the project. 2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring.
The War of the Rohirrim focuses on a character from the book’s appendix, the mighty King of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand, and a legendary battle which helped shaped Middle-earth heading into LOTR. The anime pic will expand the untold story behind the fortress of Helm’s Deep, delving into the life and bloodsoaked times of Hammerhand. Overall, the movie is a companion piece to New Line’s LOTR trilogy and is set roughly 250 years before that movie during the third age (Note Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings mini-series is set during the second age).
Kamiyama has been behind such anime projects as Blade Runner: Black Lotus and the TV series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Joseph Chou (Blade Runner: Black Lotus) will produce. Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) are writing.
Carolyn Blackwood, Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. Pictures Group, and Richard Brener, President and Chief Creative Officer, New Line Cinema, released a statement on the film. “All of us at New Line feel a deep affinity for the extraordinary world J.R.R. Tolkien created, so the opportunity to dive back into Middle-earth with the team at Warner Bros. Animation is a dream come true. Fans know Helm’s Deep as the stage for one of the greatest battles ever put to film and, with many of the same creative visionaries involved and the brilliant Kenji Kamiyama at the helm, we couldn’t be more excited to deliver a fresh vision of its history that will invite global audiences to experience the rich, complex saga of Middle-earth in a thrilling new way.”
Philippa Boyens, who won an Oscar for writing The Return of the King, will be a consultant on the film.
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