More Lord of the Rings movies are being developed, as announced during today's Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call.
The news comes as Warner Bros. and New Line strike a multi-year deal with Swedish company Embracer Group AB, which allows the studios to make more adaptations of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. On the call, CEO David Zaslav said the deal includes "multiple" films based on J.R.R. Tolkien's series.
The first series of films were directed by Peter Jackson and were a massive success for WB and New Line. Not only did the trilogy, released through 2001-2003, cumulatively gross nearly $3 billion worldwide, but it broke Academy Award records, garnering 17 Oscars as a whole, including a Best Picture win for Return of the King.
Zaslav previously hinted at moving forward with Lord of the Rings during an earnings call last year, telling investors that the studio would "focus on franchises," even bringing up the possibility of making more Harry Potter movies.
It's little wonder why WB would want to keep investing in The Lord of the Rings, but rights have always been an issue facing any studio trying to adapt Tolkien's works. Amazon owns the TV rights and released the first of five planned seasons of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power last year. An anime film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, will be released on April 12, 2024.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
