J.R.R. Tolkien fans will rejoice that New Line and Warner Bros. are teaming up to create an animé feature prequel to The Lord of the Rings titled The War of the Rohirrim.
The ‘bloodsoaked’ story – penned by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) – centers on Helm’s Deep founder, Helm Hammerhand, the ninth King of Rohan.
It’s set hundreds of years before the epic all-night battle at the fortress depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).
Surprise! J.R.R. Tolkien fans will rejoice that New Line and Warner Bros. are teaming up to create an animé feature prequel to The Lord of the Rings titled The War of the Rohirrim
And while LOTR director Peter Jackson gave his blessing, he and wife Fran Walsh are not involved with The War of the Rohirrim, but co-writer Philippa Boyens will serve as consultant.
Anime veteran Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) has signed on to direct the fast-tracked film, which plans for a theatrical release.
‘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,’ Warner Bros. Pictures Group COO Carolyn Blackwood and New Line president Richard Brener said in a joint statement to on Thursday.
‘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.’