On Thursday, February 23, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced on the earnings call that the company’s newly-appointed studio leaders Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have already put into motion brokered deals to produce “multiple†films from J.R.R. Tolkien‘s beloved Lord of the Rings books.
Variety reports that the new film projects will be developed under the corporation’s new WB Label New Line Cinema. In a statement to the publication, Peter Jackson, who helmed the first LOTR trilogy that grossed over $3 billion USD, he confirms that there has yet to be a filmmaker attached to the new projects. Jackson appears to be in high spirits, stating that his main LOTR collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have said that the corporation “have kept us in the loop every step of the way. We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward.â€
CEO of Freemode, Lee Guinchard said on the new projects, “Following our recent acquisition of Middle-earth Enterprises, we’re thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of J.R.R. Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways.†The news is notably one of De Luca and Abdy’s greatest announcement since leaving MGM last year to helm Warner Bros. Both have recalled that New Line had taken “an unprecedented leap of faith to realize the incredible stories, characters and world of LOTR on the big screen … but for all the scope and detail lovingly packed into the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored.â€
There has not been any information regarding the release of these next projects.
In other entertainment news, The Flash is screening for the first time at CinemaCon 2023.
