The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
Official logo
Directed by	Kenji Kamiyama
Screenplay by	Phoebe Gittins Arty Papageorgiou
Story by	Jeffrey Addiss Will Matthews
Based on	The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Produced by	Joseph Chou
Production companies	New Line Cinema Warner Bros. Animation Sola Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	April 12, 2024 (2024-04-12)
Countries	United States Japan

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an upcoming anime fantasy film based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Produced by New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation with animation by Sola Entertainment, the film is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy set 250 years before the events of those films. It is directed by Kenji Kamiyama from a screenplay by Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The film tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary King of Rohan.

Development of the film was being fast-tracked by June 2021, when it was officially announced along with the involvement of Kamiyama, consultant Philippa Boyens who co-wrote the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and initial writers Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. Animation work had begun by then, taking visual inspiration from those films. Gittins and Papageorgiou were working on the script by February 2022.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures on April 12, 2024.

Premise[edit]

Set 250 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary King of Rohan who constructs the stronghold of Helm's Deep.^[1][2]

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

During 20th anniversary celebrations for the release of the film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001),^[3] film studio New Line Cinema announced in June 2021 that it was fast-tracking development of an anime prequel film with Warner Bros. Animation.^[1] Titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the film is set 250 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, who is explored in the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel and is the namesake for the fortress Helm's Deep seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002). Kenji Kamiyama and Joseph Chou were set to direct and produce the film, respectively, after doing the same for Warner Bros.' anime television series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, with Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews writing the screenplay.^[3] The film was intended to be connected to the narrative of the film trilogy, with the trilogy's co-writer, Philippa Boyens, consulting on the prequel.^[1] The trilogy's director, Peter Jackson, and other co-writer, Fran Walsh, were not involved with the project.^[3]

By February 2022, the script was being written by Phoebe Gittins, Boyens' daughter, and her writing partner Arty Papageorgiou, based on a story by Addiss and Matthews.^[4] Richard Taylor, the creative director of special effects company Wētā Workshop, and illustrator John Howe had also joined the film's creative team by then after they both worked on the live-action trilogy.^[2]

Casting[edit]

Voice casting for the film had begun by the time of its announcement in June 2021,^[1] and announcements were expected soon after February 2022.^[2]

Animation[edit]

Sola Entertainment had begun work on the animation for the film by the time of its announcement in June 2021. The film draws visual inspiration from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.^[1][2]

Marketing[edit]

A first look at concept art from the film, showing the influence of the live-action trilogy on its visuals, was revealed in February 2022.^[2]

Release[edit]

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will be released on April 12, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures.^[4]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim at IMDb