(CNN) — The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the most popular film series of all time, but the truth is that in these installments, Peter Jackson has only scratched the surface of the rich world of Middle-earth created by JRR Tolkien.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced at a press conference Thursday that “several” new films set in Middle-earth were in the works after studio bosses Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy signed an agreement with Freemode to a division of the Swedish entertainment industry, was signed by Embracer Group, which acquired the film rights to Tolkien’s work in August last year. (Warner Bros. Discovery is CNN’s parent company.)
Warner Bros. will produce the films in collaboration with sister companies New Line Cinema and Freemode and will “expand the world and beloved characters of Middle-earth,” Embracer said in a statement.
Elijah Wood played Frodo Bolson in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. (New Line Cinema/Everett Collection)
New Line and Warner Bros. Animation are currently producing the anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, a story set 183 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings that chronicles the fate of Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan.
Neither the cost of the deal nor who the creative team will be has been announced yet, although Jackson and associates Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens told CNN in a statement that Warner Bros. and Embracer have kept them “in the loop,” and so on They “look forward to continuing to speak to them to hear their vision for the future of the franchise.”
Jackson’s original trilogy, released between 2001 and 2003, received critical acclaim. He received 17 Academy Awards and generated nearly $3 billion in box office.
Since then there have been other adaptations of Tolkien’s books for the big and small screen.
Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy also grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide, while Amazon, which owns the television rights to The Lord of the Rings, premiered its first season of The Rings of Power in 2022.
“Twenty years ago, New Line took an unprecedented leap of faith to bring the incredible stories, characters and world of The Lord of the Rings to life on the big screen,” De Luca and Abdy said in a statement.
“But for all the scope and detail that went into the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe envisioned by JRR Tolkien remains largely unexplored in cinema. The opportunity to invite fans into the cinematic world of Middle-earth is an honor,” they added.