JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Anime Displayed At Annecy 2024; Deets Here
Just days after Warner Bros. announced The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for a Gollum as a new live-action film for 2026, Rohan has mustered its forces for an epic first look at The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
Warner Bros Animation is set to release several major projects, including a live-action movie focusing on the Lord of the Rings hunt and an animated film focusing on the Rohirrim. The studio is also expanding James Gunn's DC universe with Creature Commandos, a supernatural entity gathering from the superhero universe. The first looks for these projects have been announced by WB.
We finally have a taste of the animation style of the Warner Bros. feature, directed by anime filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, in images released in advance of the presentation for the film at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Warner Bros. reveals first looks of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an upcoming anime film from Warner Bros. Animation and New Line Cinema, gets three first-look images, teasing the return of some classic Middle-earth fortresses. The film follows the life of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox) and the creation of the legendary fortress of Helm's Deep, set almost two hundred years before Frodo's quest to destroy the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
One image appears to show an army of soldiers and at least one Mûmakil advancing on Edoras as an army of Rohirrim stand in their path, while another seemingly shows a Mûmakil breaching the Rohan fortress's wooden walls. The third features Helm himself standing outside the walls of Helm's Deep atop a mound of frozen bodies.
War of the Rohirrimnis an anime film set 261 years before the events of the live-action The Lord of the Rings movies. The film follows Wulf, a Dunland lord, seeking revenge against the legendary king of Rohan Helm Hammerhand. The film will be presented at Annecy, with Philippa Boyens as part of the presentation.
The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim is set to arrive in theaters on December 13th this year.
More about The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Development of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was being fast-tracked by June 2021, when the film was officially announced, to prevent the studios from losing the film adaptation rights for Tolkien's novels. Kamiyama was involved by then, as were producer Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and initial writers Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews.
Gittins and Papageorgiou re-wrote the script, which is based on details in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings covering the history of Rohan's rulers. Sola Entertainment provided the traditional 2D animation, taking visual inspiration from Jackson's films.
The cast was revealed in June 2022, including Otto reprising her role as Éowync from the film trilogy. The cast also includes Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike, Bilal Hasna, and Janine Duvitski.
The film is described as an original anime feature, depicting "a legendary battle that helped shape Middle-earth and set the stage" for Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. It "explores and expands the untold story behind the fortress of Helm's Deep, delving into the life and bloodsoaked times of one of Middle-earth's most legendary figures; the mighty King of Rohan - Helm Hammerhand."
While only three images have been released from The War of the Rohirrim, the material suggests that the films will be maintaining the general look and feel of Middle-earth from Jackson's trilogy. Edoras, for example, appears very similar to how it first appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and the Rohirrim themselves also wear similar armor.
This visual continuity is no doubt due to the fact that the anime hails from original trilogy studio New Line Cinema, now owned by Warner Bros. and producer Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies.
It remains to be seen how The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will compare to Jackson's trilogy, but the film is certainly one to look forward to.
Latest Articles
