A new report suggests thatThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimmay have been doomed to fail based on a big development for the titular franchise. Regarding the vastMiddle-earth timeline ofLord of the Rings,War of the Rohirrimis set around 200 years before the events ofThe Hobbit. This still places it long after the events ofLord of the Rings’Second Age, in which Prime Video’sThe Rings of Poweris set.
As such,War of the Rohirrim’s Easter eggstie closer to the original trilogy than one might have thought. Despite consisting of an entirely differentLord of the Ringscast, the film oozes familiarity with Jackson’s three films. However, the reception of the film has not been consistent with that of theLord of the Ringstrilogy, much to the disappointment of Tolkien fans. That said, this may have been proven to be out of the filmmakers' hands after a new report into the development of the entireLord of the Ringsfranchise impliesThe War of the Rohirrimwas set up to fail.
War Of The Rohirrim Was Meant To Help New Line Retain The Lord Of The Rings Rights
The Primary Focus Was Not On War Of The Rohirrim’s Story
WhenThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrimwas initially announced, many were excited to see a new film in the franchise on the big screen for the first time sinceThe Hobbittrilogy ended. Not only that but the film was being shown through the eyes of Kenji Kamiyama, a Japanese director known primarily for his work in anime. However,this excitement may not have been shared by Warner Bros., with a new report claimingWar of the Rohirrim’s creation stemmed entirely from the studio’s desire to retain the theatrical rightsforLord of the Rings.
War Of The Rohirrim Was Fast-Tracked To Keep LOTR Rights For More Live-Action Movies
As War of the Rohirrim sets a new box-office low for the Lord of the Rings franchise, it’s been confirmed the film was fast-tracked by the studio.
Film rights are often a tricky situation to navigate for most studios, be it the deal between Sony and Marvel to bring Spider-Man to the MCU or the inability of the same franchise to feature a standalone Hulk movie. WhereLord of the Ringsis concerned, the retention of the rights is fairly simple: Warner Bros. must avoid inactivity in the franchise. With the lastLord of the Ringsproject being 2014’sThe Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,War of the Rohirrimis seemingly more of a reset point for the franchise than anything else.
New Line Prioritized Lord Of The Rings' Future Over Making War Of The Rohirrim Great
War Of The Rohirrim Was Fast-Tracked
With this in mind,War of the Rohirrimseems as though it was set up to fail. Warner Bros. was nearing the loss ofThe Lord of the Rings’film rights, likely due to the 10-year gap between the culmination ofThe HobbitandThe War of the Rohirrim. As a result, the latter film was fast-tracked by Warner Bros. in an attempt to keep the film rights and ensureLord of the Rings’future. Evidently, this warped order of priority from Warner Bros. seemingly keptThe War of the Rohirrimfrom being a truly great film.
Overall, audiences that have seen the 2024 film are responding well to it. It currently has an 84% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, andScreen Rant’s review ofWar of the Rohirrimwas positive. Despite this, the reaction to the film as a whole was mixed. Critics are split right down the middle, withWar of the Rohirrim’s critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes sitting at 50% from 92 reviews. Paired with the film’s underperformance at the box office, it becomes clear that Warner Bros. did not put adequate care intoThe War of the Rohirrim.
New Lord Of The Rings Movie Is Now Third Franchise Movie To Get Rotten Status On Rotten Tomatoes
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now the third movie in the overall film franchise with a Rotten status on Rotten Tomatoes.
The War of the Rohirrimonly earned a worldwide total of just over $10 million in its opening weekend, falling short of its $30 million budget. This is due to an overall lack of marketing to wider audiences and the fast-tracking of the film to warrant it a critical failure. Rather than give it a proper marketing push, allow the filmmakers to take their time with the story, and treat the film as its own entity that deserves success, WB arguably set it up to fail given that the studio’s priority was retaining the franchise’s film rights.
Lord Of The Rings' Future Is Brighter Than War Of The Rohirrim
Warner Bros.' War Of The Rohirrim Plan Seemingly Worked
Although this reality is saddening concerningTheWar of the Rohirrimspecifically, it cannot be stated that Warner Bros.' plan to solidify the future of theLord of the Ringsfranchise has not worked. After all, the future of the franchise has never looked brighter. Not only is Prime Video’sThe Rings of Powerseason 3in the works, but Warner Bros. is developing multiple newLord of the Ringsmovies that will look to recapture the critical and commercial success of the original trilogy.
Every Upcoming Lord Of The Rings Movie & TV Show
The Lord of the Rings franchise has seen a resurgence in film and TV. Here is every project coming out of Middle-earth in the near future.
The most notable of these isThe Lord of the Rings:The Hunt for Gollum. This film is set to reunite original trilogy creators with its cast members to tell a story tied intrinsically toThe Fellowship of the Ring.This movie is currently set to release in 2026, with anotherLord of the Ringsfeature film being planned beyond that. Given howWar of the Rohirrimturned out, these live-action installments are clearly the focus for Warner Bros. going forward, with the former simply being a low-risk-potentially-high-reward project to enable the future of the franchise.
War Of The Rohirrim Deserves A Sequel With Proper Studio Care
As alluded to, the future ofThe Lord of the Ringsdoes look bright. That said, it is still disheartening that a film likeThe War of the Rohirrimcan be treated as simply a placeholder. The main sadness felt from this comes when thinking about the creators ofThe War of the Rohirrim. This project involved a great deal of time, effort, and care on the filmmakers' part - especially due to its nature as an animation - that was evidently not reflected by the studio.
How a sequel could turn out when the adequate amount of time, care, marketing, and planning by the studio is also included is certainly intriguing…
This proves above all else thatWar of the Rohirrimdeserves a proper sequel with full care from the studio. The movie as it was released is entertaining, has strong action scenes, goodEaster eggs to widerLord of the Ringsmovies, and compelling teases for potential continuations. Imagining how this could have turned out - or, indeed, how a sequel could turn out - when the adequate amount of time, care, marketing, and planning by the studio is also included is certainly intriguing and only increases the desire for a sequel toThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Cast
Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.
