Warner Bros. plans to reboot The Lord Of The Rings—and we have so many questions
The fires of Mount Doom are starting to bubble and WB is itching to get back to Middle-earth, so let's speculate wildly about what this all means
Here’s something that we’ve been dreading for the last few years: Warner Bros. announced today that they’re rebooting The Lord Of The Rings. Per Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced on an earnings call (when else?) that the studio was gearing up for another multi-film jaunt through Middle-earth. It makes sense. In the past few months, Zaslav has instituted a “focus on franchises,” threatening us with more Harry Potter and Lord Of The Rings movies. However, unlike the Amazon Prime series, The Rings Of Power, WB acquired the adaptive rights for the books The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit.
“Following our recent acquisition of Middle-earth Enterprises, we’re thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of J.R.R. Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways,” said Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode. “We understand how cherished these works are and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, we plan to honor the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values.”
Um, ok. What does any of this mean? Much like our experience with The Rings Of Power, no one knows! For years, Amazon told us that they were putting together a show about the Second Age, a way of weaving around the rights to the proper Lord Of The Rings books while keeping that title to avoid confusing fans. The recognition of the title is really the most valuable thing here, but it wasn’t until last August that we got any inkling as to what that would look like.
However, this sounds like Warner Bros. will reboot The Hobbit and LOTR, proper. WB Film heads Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy commented on New Line’s “unprecedented leap of faith to realize the incredible stories, characters and world of The Lord Of The Rings’ on the big screen.” However, “for all the scope and detail lovingly packed into the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored.”
We have to assume this means that the movies will have nothing to do with The Rings Of Power and will be a total reboot. There is plenty that Jackson left out, and WB would like to make LOTR into an episodic MCU-adjacent thing that the Tolkien estate probably would disapprove of.
We don’t know anything about this reboot. Hell, the people who inked this deal probably don’t know anything about this reboot. But that shouldn’t stop us from hitting the speculation button and spitballing some thoughts about this. Here’s what we’re curious about several things regarding this update:
Will Peter Jackson be involved?
– Seems doubtful considering the last time he made one of these things, he said he “winged it” on The Hobbit, which didn’t get the three-and-a-half years of pre-production. Pre-production is even less popular now than it was when Jackson made The Hobbit trilogy. The director has since made nothing but documentaries. It doesn’t seem like he’s dying to return to Middle-earth.
Update [2/23/23 8:02 p.m.: In a statement to Deadline, Jackson and his co-screenwriters Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens commented on the sale:
“Warner Brothers and Embracer have kept us in the loop every step of the way,” they said. “We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.”
Make of that what you will.
Will any of the original Hobbits return in some capacity?
– Seems likely that some cameos will be in the cards, especially from Andy Serkis. Though, it’s doubtful the three mains will reprise the roles. However, by the time these actually hit theaters, Elijah Wood will finally be an age-appropriate Frodo.
Do we actually want to see any of the original actors return, or is it better to have a clean slate?
– It would be incredibly weird to see the original cast return to remake the thing. Though, if there’s some sort of multi-verse angle, it would probably get audiences in the feels. Imagine all those Gimlis looking at each other.
Will we face LOTR overkill between the reboots of the films and the uber-pricey Amazon series?
– In addition to Warners’ Lord Of The Rings and Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings, Netflix has an animated adaptation, Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim. Plus, there are the books, audiobooks, stage adaptations, and an onslaught of video games coming. If the idea is to drain as much blood from this stone as possible, to having a bloodless stone.
Will the films and the series tread on any of the same territories?
– Once again, we’re left with an announcement that something called The Lord Of The Rings is being made, but we have no idea what that means. With Rings Of Power now out there, we have to imagine that the franchise title “Lord Of The Rings” can mean just about anything that involves Tolkien’s characters.
Will the reboot be 3 films again? Or will WB follow the Hobbit/Star Wars model and stretch out the original material into multiple films and directions?
– Given Zazlov’s hope for more franchises, it would make a lot more sense to make six movies out of Lord Of The Rings than three. Of course, that means if they suck, we’re in for a long series.
How faithful will the reboots be to the original films?
– They mention honoring the past, but one hopes that they’ll do their own thing.
Will they all be shot in New Zealand again, or will filming take place in other locations?
– Again, maybe it’s time to leave New Zealand. Middle-earth is based on England and the greater United Kingdom. Maybe try making the movie there? Just a thought.
Will advances in technology over the past 20 years change the look and approach of these films?
– Maybe since the original Lord Of The Rings, but the Avatar technology existed when Jackson cobbled together The Hobbit, so it’ll probably look more like that.
Is this really a good idea? Do we need this reboot?
– No, we don’t need this. We don’t want this. We’re getting it anyway.
Will WB start to treat LOTR like Batman and churn out different sets of films and stories?
– Seems likely.
Will there be a film that’s just called Gollum (a la Joker)?
– There’s already a video game apparently coming out this year. If successful, it doesn’t seem to be totally out of the question.