| The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim | |
| Director: | Kenji Kamiyama |
| Music: | Stephen Gallagher |
| Distributor: | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Runtime: | 134 minutes[1] |
| Language: | English |
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an upcoming anime fantasy film directed by Kenji Kamiyama from a screenplay by Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou, based on characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien. Produced by New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation, and Sola Entertainment in association with WingNut Films, it stars Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, and Miranda Otto. The War of the Rohirrim is set 183 years before Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and tells the story of Helm Hammerhand (Cox), a legendary king of Rohan, and his family as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings.
The film was announced in June 2021 and development was fast-tracked to prevent New Line from losing the film adaptation rights for Tolkien's novels. Kamiyama was involved by then, as were producer Philippa Boyens—who co-wrote Jackson's film trilogy—and writers Addiss and Matthews. Gittins and Papageorgiou re-wrote the script, which is based on details in the appendices of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–55) covering the history of Rohan's rulers. They chose to focus on Helm's unnamed daughter, whom they called Héra for the film. Sola Entertainment provided the traditional 2D animation, taking visual inspiration from Jackson's films. The main cast was revealed in June 2022, including Wise as Héra and Otto reprising her role as Éowyn from the film trilogy. Jackson and his film trilogy co-writer Fran Walsh were being credited as executive producers by June 2024.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on December 13, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Set 183 years before the events of the Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), The War of the Rohirrim tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary king of Rohan, and his family as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings. Helm goes on to be the namesake for the stronghold Helm's Deep.
Additionally, the film's voice cast includes Lorraine Ashbourne as Olwyn; Yazdan Qafouri and Benjamin Wainwright as Helm's sons Hama and Haleth, respectively; Laurence Ubong Williams as Fréaláf Hildeson, Helm's nephew and successor to the throne of Rohan; Shaun Dooley as Wulf's father Freca, a Dunlending lord with Rohirric blood who attempts to claim the throne; Michael Wildman as General Targg; Jude Akuwudike as Lord Thorne; Bilal Hasna as Lief; and Janine Duvitski as Old Pennicruik. Christopher Lee posthumously voices Saruman through an archival recording.
In June 2021, during 20th anniversary celebrations for the beginning of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003), film studio New Line Cinema announced that it was fast-tracking development of an anime prequel film with Warner Bros. Animation. This was intended to prevent New Line from losing the film adaptation rights for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55) novels. The new film, titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, was being directed by Kenji Kamiyama and produced by Joseph Chou, both returning from Warner Bros.' anime television series (2021–22). It is connected to the film trilogy's continuity, and co-writer Philippa Boyens returned from those films as a consultant and producer. She said an animated expansion of the franchise had been discussed for years before they settled on making an anime film. Jason DeMarco, Warner Bros.' senior vice president of anime, was also producing the film. Jackson and the film trilogy's other co-writer, Fran Walsh, were not officially involved in the new film, but Boyens used them as a sounding board for ideas, and they were being credited as executive producers by June 2024. Other executive producers include Sam Register, Carolyn Blackwood, and Toby Emmerich.
Several story ideas were suggested for the first anime film based on Tolkien's novels, but Boyens insisted that they focus on the kingdom of Rohan as she felt that culture was best suited for the medium and would be familiar to viewers of Jackson's films. The War of the Rohirrim is set 183 years before those films and tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a king of Rohan. Tolkien mentions his story in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, specifically the "House of Eorl" section in Appendix A which details the history of Rohan's rulers. The producers chose to tell this story because its setting earlier in the timeline avoids the villain Sauron and the influence of his One Ring, and because they thought the intensity of the conflict and the way it escalates made it the right choice for a film adaptation. Boyens said it allowed them to tell a tragic story about the "wreckage of war", and examine ideas of honor, revenge, family, and resilience.
Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews were hired to write the initial screenplay. During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Boyens asked her daughter Phoebe Gittins and Gittins's writing partner Arty Papageorgiou to re-write the script. Boyens referred to them as the "next generation" and believed it was important for new, young voices to join the franchise. The pair, who were working on another project at the time, were hesitant to join the film because of the reverence for the source material and previous films held by themselves and other fans. They were convinced to join based on the other people working on the project, including many who worked on Jackson's films. This allowed them to focus on the storytelling and bringing the material closer to the styles of anime, Japanese cinema, and animation in general. Kamiyama had key details that he wanted to include that did not fit within the initial script, including how exactly to lay siege to a citadel. He worked with Gittins and Papageorgiou to put a focus on the darker, more claustrophobic, and horrific elements of the war rather than just large-scale battles. The fact that the Dunlendings who invade Rohan do so based on historical grievances was an element that particularly resonated with the director.
The inclusion of giant elephant-like Mûmakil in concept art for the film led to concern from some fans that the film was inserting the armies of Harad into the story when Tolkien did not mention their involvement. Boyens acknowledged that the appendices do not explicitly mention forces from Harad in this story, but said their involvement could be inferred since Tolkien mentions enemies of Gondor arriving to aid the Dunlendings and elsewhere in the appendices he includes Harad as one of the enemies of Gondor in this time period. The writers also interpreted Tolkien's description of the Dunlending leader, Freca, as being wealthy enough to afford mercenaries from places like Harad as well as the Corsairs of Umbar, another enemy of Gondor. As development of the script progressed, the writers decided to introduce a narrator who would be telling the film's story as part of an oral tradition. The character Éowyn from the main events of The Lord of the Rings was chosen. Boyens said having a familiar voice in the film helped the writers with their work. She added that the narration gives context for fans of the previous films who are unfamiliar with Tolkien's wider Middle-earth history, and she felt that framing the story as an oral tradition was fitting because it was being constructed based on fragments and references in the source material.
Tolkien gave details on the deaths of Helm and his sons, Haleth and Hama, but the fate of his unnamed daughter is left unclear. The producers decided to expand on her role, making her the protagonist of the film. The first name suggested for the character did not start with "H", but Boyens thought it should start with the same letter as Helm, Haleth, and Hama. She asked Walsh for ideas and the latter suggested they name her after Hera Hilmar, the Icelandic actress who starred in their film Mortal Engines (2018). For The War of the Rohirrim, the name is spelled "Héra" based on Old English. It was not intended to be a reference to the goddess Hera of Ancient Greek religion. The writers did not want to completely invent her characterization themselves, and Kamiyama suggested they take inspiration from the historical female leader Æthelflæd since she played a similar role to Héra and Tolkien was himself inspired by such historical figures. Though the character can fight and ride horses like the men of Rohan, the writers were not interested in depicting her as a "warrior princess" which they said had become a common trope. Instead, they focused her character arc on the choices she makes and the choices that others make which impact her life. They also took inspiration from Tolkien's other female characters, including Éowyn. Another character that was expanded on for the film is Fréaláf Hildeson, Helm's nephew who eventually inherits the throne. Only Fréaláf's mother is known, creating the possibility that his father is not Rohirric and is instead from a neighboring land. Boyens believed going in this direction made Fréaláf's ascension to the throne feel unlikely to audiences, and helped differentiate him from the Lord of the Rings character Éomer who has a similar story.
Casting for the film began by the time of its announcement in June 2021, and details on the cast were expected to be revealed soon after February 2022. That June, Brian Cox was revealed to be voicing Helm, with Gaia Wise as Héra, Luke Pasqualino as Wulf, and Miranda Otto reprising her role as Éowyn from Jackson's films. Cox was previously part of the English voice cast for Black Lotus, and Boyens felt he was an appropriate choice for Helm based on his performance in a 1987 stage production of William Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus. She praised Wise for bringing a "fiery-ness" to her performance without making Héra sound petulant.
Also revealed to be cast in the film in June 2022 were Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike, Bilal Hasna, and Janine Duvitski. Their characters were revealed later, with Ashbourne voicing Olwyn; Qafouri and Wainwright as Hama and Haleth, respectively; Williams as Fréaláf; Shaun Dooley as Freca; Michael Wildman as General Targg; Jude Akuwudike as Lord Thorne; Bilal Hasna as Lief; and Janine Duvitski as Old Pennicruik.
The character Saruman from The Lord of the Rings appears in the film. An archival recording of Christopher Lee, who portrayed Saruman in Jackson's films and died in June 2015, was used for the character's voice. The producers received permission to use a recording of Lee from his wife Birgit Kroencke before her death in June 2024. They investigated casting an actor to imitate Lee's voice in case an appropriate archival recording could not be found, but Boyens was not convinced that any actor could match Lee and was pleased that they ultimately did not have to recast. The recording is an alternate take of a scene in Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy (2012–2014).
Richard Taylor, the creative director of special effects company Wētā Workshop, and illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe all returned from Jackson's film trilogy to work on The War of the Rohirrim. The film's visual style was described as being based on that of Jackson's films rather than the style of the previous animated Lord of the Rings films by Ralph Bakshi and Rankin/Bass. However, the producers did not want to just make an animated version of Jackson's style and instead embraced anime, and Kamiyama's style specifically. Boyens said they also took inspiration from the works of Akira Kurosawa and Hayao Miyazaki, particularly their focus on small details. Kamiyama wanted the characters and locations to look as realistic as possible while still being recognizable as anime. Locations in the film that were previously seen in the live-action films include the Rohan capital of Edoras, their stronghold at the Hornburg which becomes known as Helm's Deep, and the fortress of Isengard. Old models from Wētā's archives were used as inspiration for some designs.
Sola Entertainment began work on the film's animation by the time of its announcement in June 2021. A unique approach was used to create the film's traditional 2D animation: actors performed every scene of the film using motion capture, which was translated into 3D animation within Unreal Engine's real-time game engine; the 3D environment was used to determine the film's camera angles and movements, and this was translated into the final 2D animation. Kamiyama did not want to use rotoscoping to trace over the 3D scenes. Instead, he asked the artists to use the 3D version as reference when creating their traditional 2D drawings. This process created more fluid movements but maintained the feeling of hand-drawn animation. One of the biggest challenges for the animation team was the large number of horses in the film; horses are important in Rohan culture but they are also notoriously difficult to animate.
By June 2024, the film was two-and-a-half hours long after originally being envisioned as a 90 minute film. More than 60 companies had been brought in to help finish the animation work, and Chou said it was the most difficult project that he and Kamiyama had worked on. He noted that a feature-length, hand-drawn animated film would typically take five to seven years to be completed and attributed the faster production time for The War of the Rohirrim to Kamiyama's unique approach and the involvement of creatives from the live-action films. Animation work for the film was completed by late October.
Stephen Gallagher, the music editor on Jackson's The Hobbit film trilogy, was composing the score for The War of the Rohirrim by February 2023. He continued the style of composer Howard Shore's music for Jackson's films and reprised Shore's Rohan theme from the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Recording for Gallagher's score began by March 2024 with the New Zealand-based Stroma ensemble, who provided wind and string instruments. Also in March, brass instruments and taiko drums were recorded at Angel Recording Studios in London; crumhorns and shawms were recorded at London's Air-Edel Recording Studios; and soloist Karen Bentley Pollick was recorded remotely in Mexico playing the Hardanger fiddle, which Shore prominently used for the music of Rohan in the films. Recording continued in May, including more sessions at Angel Studios and recording with the New Zealand-based Tudor Consort choral group. Recording in New Zealand, which also included harpist Michelle Velvin and singer Barbara Paterson, wrapped on August 20. After further sessions at Angel Studios and Air-Edel Studios that week, recording for the score finished on August 28. The sound mix took place at Park Road Post in Wellington and Gallagher completed his work on the film on October 3.
An original song created for the film, titled "The Rider", was announced in October 2024. Performed by Paris Paloma, the song was written by Gittins and composer David Long. The latter also provided music for Jackson's films. "The Rider" was released digitally by WaterTower Music on November 15 alongside an official music video. A soundtrack album featuring Gallagher's score is set for release in December.
A first look at the film's concept art, showing the influence of Jackson's films on its visuals, was revealed in February 2022. Kamiyama, Boyens, Chou, and DeMarco discussed the film and showed unfinished footage at a panel during the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2023. The footage received positive responses for its combination of Jackson's visuals and anime stylings; John Hopewell of Variety said fans of Jackson's films and fans of anime would both enjoy The War of the Rohirrim, and highlighted the brutal, bloody violence shown. Rafael Motamayor at /Film said it was one of the most anticipated animated films of 2024.
Jackson introduced, via video message, a panel for the film at the next Annecy Film Festival in June 2024. The panel was moderated by Andy Serkis, who portrays Gollum in the live-action films and had recently been announced as the director for (2026). Kamiyama, Boyens, Chou, and DeMarco again discussed the project and showed 20 minutes of footage from the start of the film. Motamayor praised the footage and said it felt like a "proper" prequel to Jackson's films. However, he said the combination of 2D characters and 3D backgrounds was not as smooth as in the anime series Attack on Titan (2013–2023). Kambole Campbell of Animation Magazine agreed, but attributed this to the animation being unfinished. He said some scenes "showed a lot more polish and precision" and praised the voice performances, particularly Cox's. At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Chou and DeMarco discussed the film during Tolkien fan website TheOneRing.net panel. They showed footage and provided some of the first official merchandise to attendees of the panel.
The first trailer was released online in August 2024. It opens with footage from Jackson's films and Shore's music for Rohan before segueing into the story and visuals of The War of the Rohirrim. James Whitbrook of Gizmodo thought this "aggressive leaning" into connections with Jackson's trilogy was telling, but he also said the rest of the trailer looked "very cool" and brought an interesting new style to familiar visuals from Jackson's films. Matt Patches, writing for Polygon, said the trailer was gorgeous and believed the film would be bigger than Bakshi's 1978 animated The Lord of the Rings film. Jordan King at Empire called the trailer "jaw-slackening" and thought the film would live up to its name, while Amy West at GamesRadar+ said it looked "just as epic as you imagined". The Japanese version of the trailer revealed that the character Saruman would be appearing in the film.
More footage from the film was shown during a panel at New York Comic Con in October 2024. Moderated by television host and avid Tolkien fan Stephen Colbert, the panel featured Kamiyama, Boyens, DeMarco, Chou, Papageorgiou, Gittins, Cox, Pasqualino, and Wise. A motion poster inspired by artwork, maps, and music from the film was released online along with a video showing how it was created. Whitbrook said the footage shown at the panel "captures the aesthetic of [Jackson's] beloved movies down to a tee" but it was also putting "its own spin on things even amid the familiarity". /Film Jeremy Mathai said the previously released footage did not do justice to what was shown at the panel, which he described as a combination of the political scheming of the series Game of Thrones (2011–2019) and "a dark and mature tone befitting Kamiyama's prior anime work". Following a trend of noteworthy popcorn buckets being used for films earlier in 2024, AMC Theatres announced a unique popcorn bucket for The War of the Rohirrim in the shape of a 27inches long war hammer.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on December 13, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was originally scheduled for release on April 12, before it was delayed to the December 2024 date due to other schedule changes caused by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.