Warner Bros.
Despite the fact that Prime Video just debuted their new billion-dollar The Lord of the Rings series last year, Hollywood clearly thinks that there’s still plenty of appetite for the franchise.
According to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have reached a deal with the Lord of the Rings rights holders, Embracer Group, to develop “multiple” new movies.
On a Thursday earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that newly-installed studio leaders Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have brokered a deal to make “multiple” films based on the beloved J. R. R. Tolkien books.
No filmmakers have been attached to the projects as yet, but in a statement to Variety, Jackson and his main “Lord of the Rings” collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens said Warner Bros. and Embracer “have kept us in the loop every step of the way.” [via Variety]
So far, The Lord of the Rings franchise has spanned six films and a television show on Amazon Prime Video, which debuted last year.
Prior to the Prime Video series, the most recent entry in the franchise were The Hobbit films, which were directed by Peter Jackson and released in 2012 (An Unexpected Journey), 2013 (The Desolation of Smaug), and 2014 (The Battle of the Five Armies).
None of the Lord of the Rings projects have been able to recreate the magic of the original trilogy, however. Not only were the films commercial hits but they were critically well-received, as well, ultimately culminating in 2003’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King winning Best Picture at the Academy Awards.