LOTR: War of the Rohirrim Anime Prequel gets A Detailed Concept Art

We are about to dive into Middle-earth twice again in full force.

After Amazon Prime Video’s LOTR: The Rings of Power got a stunning teaser at the Super Bowl, another animated film from Warner Bros has some exciting new updates.

Titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the anime feature from Warner Bros. Animation and New Line Cinema just got its official first look image and a release date.

As reported exclusively by Variety, The War of the Rohirrim is set to release on April 12, 2024. The first look at the anime’s concept art is highly detailed and reflects its inspiration from the Peter Jackson films.

The anime, which will be set about two centuries before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, is yet another project exploring Middle-earth’s history. The War of the Rohirrim will focus on Helm Hammerhand and the creation of Helm’s Deep.

As the project will supposedly have no connection to Prime Video’s The Rings of Power, it’ll be interesting to see which of the two land closer to the essence of Tolkien’s tales.

Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich, when talking about the team working on the feature, stated,

The ‘Lord of the Rings’ films took Tolkien’s masterwork to new cinematic heights and inspired a generation. It’s a gift to be able to revisit Middle-earth with many of the same creative visionaries and the talented Kenji Kamiyama at the helm. This will be an epic portrayal unlike anything audiences have ever seen.

Kenji Kamiyama directs with Joseph Chou producing through his anime studio Sola Entertainment and Philippa Boyens exec producing. Phoebe Gittins co-writes the screenplay with Arty Papageorgiou, based on a script from Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews.

The new update comes just a few days after Saul Zaentz Co. announced that it was selling its LOTR film and TV rights with an estimated price tag of $2 billion.

Regarding WB’s position, Zaentz stated that “Warner Bros. had not been actively developing new LOTR and related content” hence the rights reverting back to the company.

About The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an upcoming anime prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. New Line Cinema will be teaming up with Warner Bros. Animation to expand the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The film will be a stand-alone feature directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex). Rings and Hobbit co-writer Philippa Boyens will be working as a consultant on the project.

The film will take place about 250 years before the events of the trilogy and will be set in the Middle-earth universe. It will explore the legendary Helm’s Deep fortress. Helm Hammerhand, the mightly King of Rohan, will be the central figure of War of the Rohirrim. Helm’s Deep was the center of the Battle of the Hornburg during the War of the Ring in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie.