Warner Bros. Discovery will make more movies inspired by The Lord of the rings. This news has occurred in a context in which the company is undergoing restructuring. A few months ago, he spoke about the possibility of taking up old franchises to exploit them again. That process has already begun.
If the cinematographic and written work of The Lord of the rings, could be one of the most important artistic productions of humanity. Not only because the books of J.R.R. Tolkien have accompanied thousands of readers fascinated by fantasy stories, but also because the adaptation of Peter Jackson It can be considered one of the best trilogies in the history of cinema.
That makes any project related to The Lord of the rings arouse both interest and suspicion. The first explains that there is always curiosity to see a new adaptation linked to that universe. The second, in this case, is linked to the feeling that, rather than cultivating a story and a franchise, the development of new films has to do with a commercial purpose.
The Rings of Power It’s one of the best series ever. Tolkien Universe
More movies about The Lord of the rings
Warner Bros. Discovery has not shared many details about this initiative. The idea that is publicly known is to explore stories that were suggested in the trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, but that were not addressed. That is to say, before going to a specific section of the books, the immediate reference will be the cinematographic work.
It does not seem like an easy task. Not only because of the narrative challenge that it implies, but also because, since August 2022, Embracer Group has power over Middle-earth Enterprisesthe company in charge of exploring the intellectual property of The Lord of the rings and of The Hobbit. In particular, Embracer Group manages the rights of The Lord of the rings through another company freemode.
The CEO of the latter company, Lee Guinchard, explained the following in relation to the initiative to make new films:
“We understand how appreciated these works are and, working together with our partners in New Line Cinema and Warner Bros., we intend to honor the past, look to the future, and hold ourselves to the highest level of quality and production values.”
Lee Guinchard
The bet is exciting. But is it feasible to achieve? The most recent precedents invite a little prudence.
The Hobbit and the rings of powerfailed attempts
After The Lord of the ringsPeter Jackson embarked on another great project inspired by the work of JRR Tolkien: the trilogy of The Hobbit. This movie saga explored a story prior to everything shown before. The result was not satisfactory. Perhaps because the memory of the previous productions was still very present and this could have conditioned the experience of the spectators.
the last movie of The Hobbit was released in 2014. Since then, there have been no new projects related to the mythology of The Lord of the rings until the rings of powerthe series promoted by Amazon Prime Video and released in 2022. For now, the results of this adaptation in television format are worse than those of the other films mentioned.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power it has a powerful staging; it is cinematographic, although it is being transmitted in television format. However, its script is not solid and leaves half-built characters and multiple inconveniences. To this is added that Amazon Prime Video has opted to take some narrative licenses that have irritated the followers most attached to the canon. The result? An irregular first season.
Even though Warner Bros. Discovery has nothing to do with that Amazon Prime Video project, both failed attempts are already installed in the collective imagination. This aspect should not be omitted by the first of the companies mentioned, which is exposed to exploiting a mythology at a time when, perhaps, the viewers are tired of it due to the discomfort of the aforementioned proposals.
The risk of harming the legacy of The Lord of the rings
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring it was released in 2001. With the beginning of the new century, a franchise that at that time was not imagined as a historical saga also arrived in the film industry. That first installment laid the foundations of a story that, through The two Towers and The return of the Kingits sequels, did not stop growing emotional and epic.
It was a time when social networks did not have the influence they have today; in which movie tickets were still bought at the box office, with no digital option, perhaps after checking the listings in the newspapers. The Lord of the ringsas a saga, arose at a time, too, in which the cinematographic experience did not compete with the streaming and changes in consumption habits (especially after the COVID-19 pandemic).
Through the entire saga of The Lord of the rings, viewers saw the growth of characters that became endearing figures. Even Gollum, a despicable being, full of envy and hatred, had a justification for his desires and ambitions. What happened to him? He ended up becoming, like others, a classic pop reference: “my precious!”.
His example serves to remind us that, even in the less epic, brilliant and moving cases, this trilogy knew how to earn a space in the collective memory. In terms of epic, battles like the one that occurred in Helm’s Deep they can be traced in different productions that took it as a reference; Perhaps the most representative is the confrontation against the white walkers that occurred in winterfell during season 8 of Game of Thrones.
The weight of the story
back about The Lord of the rings is to revive part of that tradition and legacy. At the same time, having to assume that weight and its influence on the viewers. One of the ideas that Warner Bros. Discovery has for this project of new films is to incorporate, again, Peter Jackson. He may be a good starting point – chances are no one in the movie industry knows that franchise like he does.
However, in the event that that story is constantly exploited, releasing films like someone who produces jelly beans, the greatness of that first trilogy could be lost among so much noise. It is no longer a matter of personal taste. the saga of The Lord of the rings, multi-awarded at the Oscars, has a place in the history of cinema to which it would be convenient not to disrespect.
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That’s the size of the gamble that Warner Bros. Discovery wants to make: to be aware that perhaps nothing it does about The Lord of the rings get over that first trilogy and yet want to do it thinking that it’s worth it. Maybe not. Although in the event that many millions of dollars are generated, all of the above matters little to those responsible for the accounts.