The new Lord Of The Rings movie is a huge success, but Warner Bros. You may not care about that

One could be forgiven for not noticing, but a new film in one of the most successful franchises in cinema history hit theaters over the weekend. The film in question is “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” an animated film based on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, which takes place long before the events of director Peter Jackson’s original trilogy. Unfortunately, audiences seemed largely uninterested in this sequel story, given its poor box office returns. However, Warner Bros. may not have been I’m upset about this, as this was a decision made with a larger business in mind.

“The War of the Rohirrim,” directed by Kenji Kamiyama (“Blade Runner: Black Lotus”), grossed an estimated $4.6 million at the domestic box office in its debut, landing at No. 5 on the charts. On condition The “Lord of the Rings” films have grossed nearly $6 billion worldwideincluding the “Hobbit” trilogy, this is a shockingly low number. To make matters worse, the film has only grossed $5.7 million overseas so far after two weeks of release, giving it a total of $10.3 million. Not exactly a barn stove, to put it mildly.

Critics were a bit mixed about the film and WB didn’t spend a fortune marketing it. So, why make the film at all? For one, The “War of the Rohirrim” had a modest budget of only $30 millionmuch less live event entries. More importantly, the studio produced the film to ensure it retained the rights to “The Lord of the Rings.” In a statement (Heb Exhibitor relations), Warner Bros. has not mastered it. The words say the following:

“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim film was announced in June 2021 quickly to ensure New Line Cinema would not lose the film adaptation rights to Tolkien’s novels while the LOTR trio – Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens – were working through a creative vision for live-action films. Next in the LOTR film series.

It’s highly unusual for a studio to come out and reveal the real reason behind their business decisions like this. At the same time, the fact that “The War of the Rohirrim” has been disappointing at the box office so far cannot be overlooked, and this is a way for Warner Bros. To explain the theatrical failure. One could look at it as a $30 million investment to stay in the Middle-earth business. Also, not for nothing, but with a very low budget, this movie can still make money in the long run, once VOD, streaming, Blu-ray, etc. are taken into account.

The anime takes place 183 years before the events of Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. It tells the fate of House Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. The Battle of Helm’s Deep was of great importance to The Two Towers. This film attempts to provide hardcore fans with some historical context. It’s profound stuff that clearly wouldn’t be of interest to the average moviegoer. But again, the World Bank did not expect it to be so. They have bigger fish to fry – the new live-action “Lord of the Rings” movies. The first of them is called “The Hunt for Gollum” and will be directed by Andy SerkisThe actor who brought Gollum to life. It’s expected to hit theaters in 2026. This is just the first new live-action film the studio has planned, as there is also at least one other as-yet-unspecified “LOTR” movie in development. That’s the endgame here. This animated film was just a way to ensure that the rights would not be lost, and someone else would be allowed to exploit them.

I talked more about this in today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:

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“The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim” is now in theaters.