The Lord of the Rings franchise has made a big comeback recently with Amazon’s The Rings of Power series and WB’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim and the upcoming live-action Middle-earth films that will launch with The Hunt For Gollum.
It’s been rumored that there’s a rivalry between the creative teams behind The Rings of Power series and WB’s films. Well, writer and producer Philippa Boyens recently addressed those rumors, and she makes it clear that they aren’t true.
She told GamesRadar+: “I have this belief and I hope it’s true that in terms of The Rings of Power, I think being able to expand upon the world is only a good thing.
“I particularly love that particular piece of Middle-earth history. Some people seem to think there is a rivalry or conflict between the projects, but there is absolutely not and I don’t believe there is from their part either. They should complement each other. Let’s have more Tolkien, can you ever have too much?”
That’s what I’m saying! The more Tolkien the better, and I’m completely open to different takes and visions of his work.
Boyens went on to talk about why they opted to make an animated film with The War of the Rohirrim, saying:
“We knew that we wanted it to be a standalone story to be able to introduce new characters to the audience. We wanted the world of Middle-earth, as we know it, to be there on the periphery, but not to be driving the story – it wasn’t being driven by the Dark Lord or the Ring.
“We also knew that we didn’t necessarily want to anchor it in one of the characters from the live-action movies, not yet, anyway.”
So, the creative team set off on a journey to tell the story of the rebellious warrior princess Héra (Gaia Wise). Boyens said: “I think some people think we deliberately set out to have a lead female character, but when you asked, why not one of the sons? Did you see what happened to those boys? It becomes self-evident.”
“They’re interesting characters and beautifully voiced by our actors in the story, but really fated characters. When you look at what’s at the beginning and the heart of this conflict, it is actually that unnamed daughter.
“If you start to add other layers on that, such as, what if the boy who’s stepping forward seeking her hand is her friend, her childhood friend? So many things become destroyed along the way.
“As soon as you start delving into that, you follow the natural threads of the story, which is the wreckage of war. Who is left standing through these incredible events that play out? So, the story itself began to tell us who was going to be the most interesting character to view this story through.”
Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim tells the “fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan.
“A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg—a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep.
“Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”
New Line Cinema’s original anime feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim comes from award-winning filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series).
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is now playing in theatres everywhere.
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