LOS ANGELES: Film studio Warner Bros. is developing new installments in the hit ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ franchises based on JRR Tolkien’s novels set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, announced company executives on Thursday.
Warner Bros., owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, said it has entered into a multi-year agreement to collaborate on new films with Middle-earth Enterprises, a unit of Embracer Group AB.
The “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, which debuted in 2001, won 17 Oscars. Three “Hobbit” films have been released as of 2012. The six films, directed by Peter Jackson, have grossed over $6 billion at the worldwide box office.
“Despite all the scope and lovingly packaged detail in both trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe imagined by JRR Tolkien remains largely unexplored in film,” said the co-chairmen of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, Michael DeLuca and Pam Abdy. statement.