Peter Jackson is in talks with Warner Bros. about the new Lord of the Rings movies which were announced earlier today.
Jackson, who directed the Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy, has not announced that he'll be directing the upcoming LOTR movies. However, per Deadline, the filmmaker and his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens are speaking to the studio and Embracer Group, which acquired the IP rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings in August 2022. "Warner Brothers and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way," Jackson, Walsh and Boyens said in a statement. "We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward."
Warner Bros. and New Line have closed a multi-year deal with Embracer Group to create several new films set in Middle-earth. The new movies are not expected to be remakes of any previous films, as Warner Bros. said during the announcement that the intention is "to invite fans deeper into the cinematic world of Middle-earth" in ways that have been unexplored on film. New Line originally adapted Tolkien's trilogy of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King into movies directed by Jackson from 2001-2003. Later, Tolkien's children's novel The Hobbit was adapted into its own trilogy of movies from 2012-2014, with original material added in to compensate for the book's much shorter length.
Middle-earth's New Owner
The Swedish Embracer Group acquired the film, game, merchandise, theme park attraction and live show rights to Lord of the Rings during a major purchasing spree. During this time, the company also acquired the video game-related brands Limited Run Games and Tripwire Interactive. However, it does not own the TV rights to Lord of the Rings. Those TV rights are currently owned by Amazon, which used them to create The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which premiered on Prime Video in 2022.
The Rings of Power is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth and serves as a prequel that sets up events in Tolkien's novels, including the forging of the Rings of Power and the corruption of Sauron. Jackson had no involvement with the show, although he claims that Amazon initially reached out to him and then failed to follow up. Despite mixed reviews, The Rings of Power has become the most-watched show on Prime Video.
A second season of The Rings of Power is scheduled to come out in 2024.
Source: Deadline