‘The Lord of the Rings’ Rights Are Up for Sale – New Movies & Games Inevitable
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings rights are going up for auction for the first time in nearly fifty years.
One of the biggest IP sales we’ve seen in decades is about to happen, according to Variety. The movie, merchandising, gaming, and live event rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work is going up for auction. This includes The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings rights.
The sale comes as Amazon is ramping up its marketing campaign for The Rings of Power – and that’s no mistake. The streaming wars are hot and studios are looking for familiar properties that aren’t comic book related. Why not snatch up the biggest and oldest of them all?
Saul Zaentz Co. (and Middle Earth Enterprises, which handles its Tolkien-related licensing) has held the Lord of the Rings rights going up for auction since 1976. Four and a half decades later, the holdings have a $2 billion valuation – that’s around 10 billion pounds of potatoes – and it’ll likely be more than that when all is said and done.
While Netflix and a couple of others have weight to swing in this fight I’m going to put my money on Amazon snapping the Lord of the Rings rights up. They have the capital, they have a desire to make LoTR content and games (they were working on an MMO for a while). WB is a close second and they already have a functional games division.
via William Morrow
Amazon – The Rings of Power
Amazon secured the filming rights to The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales in a $250 million deal with the Tolkien Estate. They were able to avoid working with Saul Zaentz Co. thanks to a contractual loophole. They have one live-action series in the works and likely others waiting in the wings if the first pays off.
The Rings of Power arrives on September 2nd. It takes place during the second age and focuses on Númenor, Sauron, and the rings of power. Its first trailer drops this weekend.
via Amazon
Warner Bros. – The War of the Rohirrim
Warner Bros. has film development rights to LoTR through its ownership of New Line Cinema – they were the studios behind Peter Jackson’s six movies. Saul Zaentz Co. spent several years in litigation with the studio over box office revenue from Peter Jackson’s movies.
WB has announced an animated feature-length that will tell the story of Helm Hammerhand and the bloody history of Helm’s Deep. The legendary King of Rohan was involved in a long, costly war for the majority of his reign. The War of the Rohirrim has no release date.
via Warner Bros.
What the Lord of the Rings Rights Sale Means for Fans
If you want more Lord of the Rings content, this is likely a good deal for you. This could mean not just new movies and series, but new games, comics, concerts, and merch. Prepare to keep on ignoring the adaptations you don’t like if you’re a purist. This train cannot be stopped.
via Easton Press
