Summary
- Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim release date has been delayed due to scheduling changes by Warner Bros. Discovery, creating uncertainty for fans.
- The delay was caused by the postponement of other films, like Dune 2, due to strike action, as Warner Bros. Prioritizes proper promotion for higher-cost projects.
- Despite potential negative effects of the new release date and ongoing strikes, the delay ensures that the LOTR anime adaptation won't be affected and has a chance to make a significant impact on the movie industry.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim release date has been delayed amid a wave of scheduled changes by Warner Bros. Discovery.
In the aftermath of Amazon's push into the Lord of the Rings franchise, Warner Bros. Discovery seemingly re-committed to the company’s role as the IP’s main home, with the critically acclaimed Lord of the Rings film trilogy having come from the studio. In addition to new Lord of the Rings movies by Warner Bros. In conjunction with New Line, an anime adaptation titled Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was also planned . Envisioned as a prequel and set almost two centuries before the events in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the film tells the tale of Helm Hammerhand and how he attained glory in a defensive struggle against an army of the wild men of Dunland.
While the Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim release date was revealed alongside a first-look photo via concept art as early as February last year, the film’s release shifted further away. Warner Bros. Delayed the release of the eagerly anticipated Dune 2 because of the SAG strike, which bars actors from promoting their upcoming projects. Dune 2 was moved from November 3, 2023, to March 15, 2024, starting a chain reaction that shifted the release of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (previously set for a March 15 release) to April 12, the original release date for The War of the Rohirrim.
The new release date, currently set for a tentative December 13, 2024, will see Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim face off against the Karate Kid reboot being released simultaneously, which might negatively affect the film’s performance. As Dune 2 is a higher-cost, live-action endeavor, it is safe to conclude that the executives at the company see this as a worthy sacrifice to ensure proper promotion for the Dune sequel. While these two major projects have shifted to accommodate the change for Dune 2, some other projects are staying put, with A quaman 2 keeping its release date despite the ongoing strikes.
The gag order on actors is a stipulation that has proven detrimental to a lot of recent releases, with even the generally positively received Blue Beetle tracking to be another box office flop for Warner Bros. Discovery and making the studio wary of releasing big projects like Dune. Conversely, the refusal to give Aquaman 2 the same treatment no doubt signals the minute amount of interest behind the scenes for the film, which shows no signs of having any relevance to the wider DCU under James Gunn and Peter Safran.
Pushing the anime adaptation back won't sit well with Lord of the Rings fans. However, this means the release likely won't be marred by any strikes. This is a good thing, as a LOTR anime adaptation could mean a lot for the future of the movie industry, but only if it succeeds.
Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now set for release on December 13, 2024.
Source: Warner Bros.