Warner Bros. has given the green light for new Lord of the Rings movies.
Yep, it looks like that fresh off the back of Amazon's big money television series, the saga will be returning to the big screen.
The exciting news was announced during a call with investors to go over earnings for Q4 with the company's investors.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav revealed that the studio and New Line Cinema had struck a long-term deal with Embracer Group AB’s Middle-Earth Enterprises, for a series of new movies based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world.
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Discussing the agreement, Lee Guinchard, the CEO of Embracer Group’s Freemode, said: "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.
"We understand how cherished these works are, and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, we plan to honor the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values."
Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, from Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said it was an incredible opportunity to bring fans of the franchise deeper into the story than the original trilogy.
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They added: "Twenty years ago, New Line took an unprecedented leap of faith to realize the incredible stories, characters and world of The Lord Of The Rings on the big screen. The result was a landmark series of films that have been embraced by generations of fans.
"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 on film.
"The opportunity to invite fans deeper into the cinematic world of Middle-earth is an honor, and we are excited to partner with Middle-earth Enterprises and Embracer on this adventure."
Peter Jackson's trilogy, which was released in the early 2000s, became a global phenomenon, taking in well over $3 billion at the box office.
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However, despite its popularity, Tolkien fans will no doubt be a little trepidatious about the prospect of the writer's work being used once again following on from the poor reception of Amazon's prequel, The Rings of Power.
Many fans were left bored by the TV series, claiming it was just too slow.
A number of people have taken to social media to vent their frustrations, with one person writing on Reddit: "Is anybody else EXTREMELY disappointed in the 'Ring of Power' series?"
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The poster made reference to what they described as an 'array of fake, semi-fake and real English, Irish and Scottish accents involved', and said they couldn't remember the last time they'd 'switched a series off because of it being that bad'.
"And this is coming from a fan of the LOTR and Hobbit movies," they continued. "I was expecting LOTR what I got was LOTR-cum-Emmerdale. It's slow, tedious. Like watching paint dry."
It also received a pretty scathing 38 percent from fans on Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch.
Let's hope the films are an improvement then, eh?
Topics: Lord of the Rings, Film and TV, Entertainment
Dominic Smithers