As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of immersion in the vast realms of Tolkien lore, I must confess that this latest development in the Lord of the Rings saga left me somewhat puzzled and amused. The release of an animated Lord of the Rings movie, The War of the Rohirrim, seems almost like a side quest in a video game – a small, seemingly insignificant mission to keep the rights alive while we wait for the main event.
The past weekend at the box office was peculiar since films linked to renowned franchises like Spider-Man and Lord of the Rings were released, but Moana 2 and Wicked still reigned supreme in cinemas. Surprisingly, Kraven The Hunter and The War of the Rohirrim, both new releases, failed to perform well as anticipated, with Kraven The Hunter seemingly marking the end of Sony’s Spider-Verse spin-off series. However, this setback doesn’t seem to significantly impact the anime-styled Lord of the Rings film.
Over the weekend, an animated film adaptation of “Lord of the Rings,” set two centuries before the original story by J.R.R. Tolkien, was released. However, it seems many people might have missed this release as it wasn’t heavily advertised and had a production budget of just $30 million – a fraction compared to the usual $200 million spent on films from studios like Disney or Pixar. In fact, the studio appears to be only hoping that the movie will at least cover its costs, which suggests they weren’t overly concerned about it being seen. It’s possible they didn’t care much if people watched this film.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim May Have Been Made Retain The Rights
According to an article by Variety discussing the film’s poor box office earnings, it seems that The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was primarily produced not with the intention of being a successful movie on its own, but rather as a means for Warner Bros to maintain control over the rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise. This theory is supported by the fact that Red One was available for free over the weekend to Amazon Prime Video subscribers, outperforming The War of the Rohirrim at the box office.
Peter Jackson is currently developing two live-action films, with Andy Serkis both starring in and directing “Lord of the Rings: The Quest for Gollum”. Typically, agreements between intellectual property (IP) owners and studios come with time restrictions and stipulations that the IP must be consistently utilized. If this isn’t the case, the rights might return to the original owner.
It’s been about ten years since “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” hit theaters, and it looks like we won’t see a new Gollum movie for at least another two years, possibly longer. Although we don’t have all the details about the rights agreement with Warner Bros., it seems likely that the deadline is approaching. With no plans for more movies when the anime film was initially greenlit, it’s easy to imagine a studio investing a few million dollars upfront in order to capitalize on the potential for making millions, or even billions, from a future project.
The War of the Rohirrim Isn’t The First Movie To Be Made For This Reason
If the motivation behind the creation of “The War of the Rohirrim” was primarily rights-related, it wouldn’t be unprecedented. In fact, similar situations have occurred with other well-known intellectual properties in the past.
It’s not surprising that after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 4 plans collapsed, Sony decided to swiftly reboot the series with The Amazing Spider-Man, as keeping the franchise alive was preferable to letting go of the rights, even if the new movies were less than stellar. In a similar vein, the Hellraiser and Children of the Corn franchises opted for direct-to-DVD releases when their films didn’t meet expectations, rather than risk losing the rights altogether.
Notably, Fox tapped Roger Corman to helm a Fantastic Four film in the mid-90s as they hadn’t produced this title previously and aimed to create a film to preserve their rights. However, this production never saw an official release. It was not intended for public viewing from the start.
If Peter Jackson’s upcoming films prove to be blockbusters a few years from now, as many anticipate they will, then the $30 million invested in The War of the Rohirrim will seem like a minimal expense; it will be recognized as a wise investment in the franchise.
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2024-12-16 19:07