Lord Of The Rings Anime Isn’t Being Released On Time

By Douglas Helm | Published

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

New Line has pushed its upcoming animated film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim from its April 2024 release date to a December 2024 release date instead, according to Deadline. The shift comes amidst a series of release date shifts by Warner Bros Discovery, which pushed Dune: Part Two from its upcoming November release date to a March 2024 release, which was previously when Godzilla X Kong: The Empire was set to be released. That film was shifted to an April 2024 release, which explains the shift for The War of Rohirrim.

The SAG-AFTRA strike is impacting theater releases, with The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim getting an eight-month delay from April 2024 to December 2024.

Dune: Part Two moved its release date due to the unavailability of its SAG-AFTRA cast members to promote the film while the ongoing strike is happening. While fans of The Lord of the Rings might be disappointed to wait for this promising new project, it will place The War of Rohirrim in the December holiday theatrical release window, which is where all previous theatrical releases in the franchise landed. Those who are fond for the days of holiday season Tolkien theater trips will at least have that to look forward to.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will see the forces of Helm and his people defending the fortress of Hornburg, known as Helm’s Deep in the original trilogy, from a vengeful Dunlending lord known as Wulf.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an anime feature film that is directed by Kenji Kamiyama and takes place 183 years before Tolkien’s original trilogy and the Peter Jackson films adapted from them. The film will chronicle the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, who will be voiced by Brian Cox. Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, is a character from the appendix of JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King novel.

Helm's Deep Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
Helm’s Deep in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will see the forces of Helm and his people defending the fortress of Hornburg, known as Helm’s Deep in the original trilogy, from a vengeful Dunlending lord known as Wulf. The film will also follow Hera, Helm’s daughter, as she leads the resistance against the invading forces. Along with Cox, the film will also star Gaia Wise, Miranda Otto, Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike Bilal Hasna, and Janine Duvitski.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim certainly has a promising team working on it and will be the first theatrical release from the franchise since the critically panned third film in the Hobbit trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is executive produced by co-writer of the original trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy, Philippa Boyens, along with Joseph Chou. Concept artist Alan Lee and Weta Workshop founder Richard Taylor will also be on the project along with Tolkien illustrator John Howe, all of whom worked on the Peter Jackson trilogy. Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou co-wrote the screenplay from a script by Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim certainly has a promising team working on it and will be the first theatrical release from the franchise since the critically panned third film in the Hobbit trilogy. Amazon’s big-budget prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has also received mixed reviews from Tolkien fans. It remains to be seen if The War of Rohirrim will be the film that Tolkien fans have been waiting for.