Fans of The Lord of the Rings are not interested in any more live-action movies for the franchise. Following the announcement from Warner Bros. that new Lord of the Rings movies were on the way, fans of the books and of Peter Jackson's original trilogy seemed largely unenthused in their reactions on Twitter. While some fans state that any more Lord of the Rings movies at all -- remakes or not -- are unnecessary, others are convinced any attempt to follow Jackson's original trilogy of LoTR films will fail. One fan even compared the Lord of the Rings franchise to the ever-expanding properties of Star Wars, Marvel and DC. At the time of writing, there appears to be very little excitement from fans of JRR Tolkien's work about more live-action films. One fan stated, "Make it the Silmarillion, unabridged, or don't bother."
It was recently announced by Warner Bros. that Middle-earth would return to the big screen after the studio obtained the rights to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings from Embracer Group AB, the current IP owners, in August 2022. Rather than remaking the original trilogy, the new Lord of the Rings films will explore new facets of Middle-earth. Jackson, who wrote and directed the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, is currently in talks for the projects, though in what capacity he will be involved has not been confirmed.
Is Peter Jackson Involved in the New LoTR Movies?
"Warner Brothers and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way," Jackson and his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens said in a statement. "We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward." Jackson's LoTR film trilogy was produced by New Line Cinema in the early 2000s and consisted of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003).
While the IP is owned by Embracer Group, who acquired the film, game, merchandise, theme park attraction, and live show rights to the Lord of the Rings, television rights are owned by Amazon. Prime Video recently released a prequel series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which takes place thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit. The series proved divisive among fans, mostly in regards to story and character, though much of the audience praised Rings of Power for its cinematography and visual effects. Following its release, Prime Video chose to temporarily suspend ratings to combat review-bombing. A second season is expected to release in 2024.
It is currently unclear what stories from the literary universe will be adapted. Additionally, an animated prequel titled The War of the Rohirrim was announced in June 2021.
Source: Twitter