The LOTR and Hobbit film and video games rights are up for sale, and expect a bidding war of $2 billion+

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‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ Film and Gaming Rights Up for Sale (EXCLUSIVE)

 

The Zaentz Co. holdings encompass rights to exploit “LOTR” and “The Hobbit” properties in film, video games, merchandising, live events and theme parks. It also includes limited matching rights should the Tolkien estate decide to make movies or other content based on two compilations of Tolkien writings that were published after his death in 1973: “The Silmarillion” and “The Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth.”

 

The timing of the sale process is not accidental. Amazon is set to premiere its long-awaited, mega-budgeted TV series rendition of the enduring “Lord of the Rings” saga, “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” on Sept. 2.  Amazon is at the top of the list of prime candidates to pursue the additional rights now held by Zaentz.

 

Warner Bros. also maintains some film development rights to “LOTR” through its ownership of New Line Cinema. New Line had massive global box office hits and Oscar wins with director Peter Jackson’s trilogy “Fellowship of the Ring” (2001), “The Two Towers” (2002) and “The Return of the King.” Warner Bros. last year announced plans for an anime theatrical feature to be produced with New Line and Warner Bros. Animation, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.”

 

But it’s understood that in the Zaentz Co.’s view, substantial live-action film rights reverted back to them last year in part because Warner Bros. had not been actively developing new “LOTR” and related content. That development, plus the anticipation for the new Amazon series, was enough to convince Zaentz Co. that the time was ripe for a sale. Warner Bros. declined to comment but it is believed that the studio and Zaentz Co. are already odds over who controls what when it comes to “LOTR” and “Hobbit” rights, which have been the subject of extensive litigation over the years.

 

 

Damn, whichever streaming service gets a hold of those rights, is going to be getting an entire library of content in which they will be making films for years. Warner Brothers has not done that good of a job with providing sufficient video game titles for that IP.