The new Lord of the Rings movie is a big flop, but Warner Bros. may not matter

You could be forgiven for not noticing, but the new film in one of the most successful franchises in cinema history hit theaters over the weekend. We are talking about the movie “The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim”, an animated performance of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, which takes place long before the events of the original trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Unfortunately, audiences were largely uninterested in this additional story given its poor box office performance. However, Warner Bros. probably doesn’t care too much about this, as the decision was made with the larger business in mind.

Directed by Kenji Kamiyama (“Blade Runner: Black Lotus”), “War of the Rohirrim” grossed around $4.6 million domestically in its debut and finished fifth on the charts. Given that The Lord of the Rings movies have earned nearly $6 billion worldwideincluding the Hobbit trilogy, that’s a shockingly small number. To make matters worse, the film has only earned $5.7 million overseas to date after two weekends of release, giving it a total of $10.3 million. Not quite a barn burner to say the least.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, and WB didn’t spend a fortune marketing it. So why make a movie at all? for one, “War of the Rohirrim” had a modest budget – only 30 million dollarsmuch less than in live recordings. More importantly, the studio created the film to ensure it retained the rights to The Lord of the Rings. In the statement (pros Relations with exhibitors), SB did not mince words, saying the following:

“Announced for June 2021, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim has been accelerated to ensure that New Line Cinema does not lose the rights to Tolkien’s novels, while the ‘LOTR’ trio of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have been working on the creative vision the next live-action LOTR film series.

It is highly unusual for a studio to immediately reveal the true reasoning behind such business decisions. At the same time, there’s no getting around the fact that War of the Rohirrim is disappointing at the box office, and this is a way for Warner Bros. explain the theatrical failure. One could see this as a $30 million investment to stay in the Middle Earth business. Also, for good reason, with such a low budget, this movie can still make money in the long run when you factor in VOD, streaming, Blu-ray, etc.

The anime takes place 183 years before the events of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. It tells the story of the fate of the house of Helmet Hammerhand, the legendary king of Rohan. The Battle of Helm’s Hollow was extremely important in The Two Towers, and this movie tries to give hardcore fans some historical context. This is deep stuff that obviously wasn’t of interest to the average moviegoer. Again, SB didn’t expect that to happen. More fish to fry – new feature films “The Lord of the Rings”. The first one is called The Hunt for Gollum and will be directed by Andy Serkisthe actor who brought Gollum to life. It is expected to hit theaters in 2026. This is just the first new live-action movie the studio is planning, as at least one other as-yet-unspecified “LOTR” movie is also in development. That’s the finish line. This cartoon was simply a way to ensure that the rights would not be lost, allowing someone else to take them away.

I talk 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.