Lord of the Rings live-action Hobbit writer Fran Walsh also confirmed as executive producer
Warner Bros. Animation, New Line Cinema and Sola Entertainment confirmed at the Annecy Animation Film Festival on Tuesday that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are serving as executive producers on The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the film new by Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Eden of the East). Jackson directed and co-wrote the previous live-action trilogy for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit stories, and Walsh co-wrote their scripts.
Screenthrill reported that the anime film will run for 2 hours and 30 minutes and posted stills from the film:
Kamiyama also shared story details with Entertainment Weekly, calling it “the story of the most powerful king in Rohan history.” The director hopes to answer questions related to the end of his lineage, the responsibility and arrogance that comes with power, and the realities of war.
The film's story is inspired by and expands upon a brief J.R.R. Tolkien's Appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
The crew provided these new details about the production during the first 20-minute screening.
This year's Annecy takes place from June 9 to June 15 in the French town of the same name. Founded in 1960, Annecy is the world's oldest and largest animation festival.
Although the staff also previewed the film last year at Annecy, the previous screening showed unfinished footage.
The film was previously scheduled to open on April 12, 2024 but has been delayed to December 13, 2024.
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. provide. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is set in Tolkien's world of Middle Earth. New Line Cinema is co-producing the film with Warner Bros. Animation. Sola Entertainment is responsible for the film's animation production and Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute the film.
Brian Cox plays Helm Hammerhand, King of Rohan and the main character. Gaia Wise plays Hera, Helm's daughter. Luke Pasqualino plays Wulf, lord of Dunlending. Miranda Otto takes on the role of Éowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan in the original film and she also serves as the narrator.
The cast also includes Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike, Bilal Hasna and Janine Duvitski.
The film is described as an original animated film, depicting “a legendary battle that helped shape Middle-earth and set the stage” for Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Joseph Chou (Blade Runner: Black Lotus) is producing, with Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) writing. Academy Award winner Philippa Boyens, who was part of the writing team for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, is a consultant on the project.
Jason DeMarco — Adult Swim senior vice president and head of anime and action and senior vice president of anime and action/series at Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios-is the producer of the film and he has confirmed that the film is in 2D.
Sources: Entertainment Weekly (Christian Holub), Variety Films (Carolyn Giardina), Screenthrill's Instagram account