Will there be another The Lord of the Rings movie? For those familiar with the source material written by J. R. R. Tolkien, and the posthumous works edited and published by Christopher Tolkien, there isn't much of a point in this question. Yet, some fans are still eager to see more Middle-earth content on their screens. While the year is wrapping up with no such new film, 2021 has been a good time for Tolkien fans as far as news and announcement go. Below, we've compiled everything you need to know.
Will There Be Another Lord of the Rings Movie?
Peter Jackson's film trilogy concluded magnificently almost two decades ago. It is complete, with no more material to be added to that story, as the entire Lord of the Rings book was adapted. To fans' (initial) delight, Tolkien's children's book, The Hobbit was also adapted. The choice to add quite a lot of material, and make a relatively short book into another film trilogy made The Hobbit less well-received than its precedent. In any case, this is completed as well.
Fans of the books have considered the possibility of The Silmarillion being adapted too. However, this is not happening any time soon. Unlike the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which were sold by Tolkien, no such deal was ever made for those works that were published posthumously. Therefore, the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and other works edited by Christopher Tolkien, still belong to the Tolkien family.
There's a loophole, however: since the rights to adapt The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been sold, any content found in these works can be adapted. And this is exactly what we expect to see in the year to come!
Related: Ludi Lin Calls Out Amazon Studios Head Over Lord of the Rings Show's Lack of Diversity
What Lord of the Rings Content Can We Expect in the Coming Year?
Amazon's The Lord of the Rings series has been talked about a lot ever since it was announced - and it now has a release date! The series will premiere on the 2nd of September 2022, which happens to be Bilbo and Frodo's birthday! While the exact content isn't confirmed yet, we know that it will focus on events before The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. This is only possible because such events are mentioned in these two books, therefore, they can be adapted and expanded for the screen.
Moreover, we can also expect a Middle-earth anime, unreal as this seems. Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim doesn't have a release date at the time of writing, but we can hopefully find out much more about it in 2022. Presently, it suffices to say that it will be directed by Kenji Kamiyama, known for Higashi no Eden and Ghost in the Shell. The material the anime will adapt is from an appendix at the end of The Lord of the Rings.
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