There is a new LotR project starting…

Yesterday it was announced that New Line Cinema is teaming up with Warner Bros. Animation for a new Lord of the Rings project, an animated movie called “The War of the Rohirrim”.

Set 250 years before the Fellowship of the Ring, the story will focus on one of the great kings of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand. 

I personally am looking this through a veil of skepticism, as with many of the projects put out by New Line – they say their primary source material will be the appendices of the Return of the King…..something previously used to insert film bloat and misleading (or false) plot lines into the LOTR movies themselves and The Hobbit. 

You see – using the appendices to make movies allows them great latitude with the story as the production companies flesh out and put their own spin on the story. For example :  Anything to do with Arwen in the ROTK, the Witch King of Angmar  and Dol Guldur from the Hobbit and the White Council also in the Hobbit.  Without the correct descriptions and dialog – these scenes feel flat, unnecessary or just wrong.  This phenomenon also took place one shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones moved beyond their original source material and were based on showrunner ideas or writer notes. 

Index entry from the Return of the King, referencing Helm Hammerhand

In this case, they are basing a movie on one entry on page 1381, pages 1397 – 1402 and a timeline entry for 1428.  This means an awful lot of artistic license – especially with the passing of Christopher Tolkien in 2020, who oversaw his father’s writings and estate. 

In that year (2758) the Long Winter began with cold and great snows out of the North and the East which lasted for almost five months. Helm of Rohan and both his sons perished in that war;

Return of the King, Appendix A – Annals of the Kings and Rulers pg - 1381

Needless to say – this dilution of the Tolkien product line, coupled with the Amazon mega-project will of course make someone MILLIONS, because the books have been mainstreamed.   That said, one has to wonder why is it being released now (I believe it is all tied to Christopher’s passing) and is there really an audience demanding it?  I personally am not – because I can read and like to leave things to mystery.  How about you?  Let us know in the comments below.

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