‘The War of the Rohirrim’ Film Is the First Female-Led ‘Lord of the Rings’ Adaptation, Releasing Later This Year
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is one of the most anticipated adaptations of Tolkien’s franchise without a doubt. This anime adaptation of one of Tolkien’s best stories is currently scheduled for a December 13, 2024 release, but the lucky people at the 2024 Annecy International Animation Film Festival have had the chance to actually see the first footage of the upcoming movie. We don’t know how much of it will change before the official premiere later this year, but we assume that it won’t be much, which is why the exclusive information we have from Annecy can be considered correct. So, what do we know?
In short, we can confirm that The War of the Rohirrim can indeed be considered an anime based on the production crew and staff. We can also confirm that Peter Jackson is coming back as executive producer and that – and this is the biggest scoop – The War of the Rohirrim will be the first female-led The Lord of the Rings adaptation!
The exclusive news we have are coming directly from Annecy, where our good colleagues from NexusPointNews are currently watching the movie and are tweeting us the most important information. The movie is directed by anime director Kenji Kamiyama and is based on a screenplay written by Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The story is not an original one but is based on one of Tolkien’s most famous stories. Annecy also confirmed to us that the legendary Peter Jackson, the guy who made The Lord of the Rings cinematic franchise possible, is back in his favorite fictional universe as executive producer:
Peter Jackson returns as an executive producer for ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM.’ pic.twitter.com/sSF8lduIjL
— Nexus Point News (@NexusPointNews) June 11, 2024
But, what will interest fans the most is the overall structure of the story. We know that Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Miranda Otto, Laurence Ubong Williams, and Shaun Dooley will star in the film, providing their voice talents to Helm Hammerhand, Hèra, Wulf, Éowyn, Fréaláf Hildeson, and Freca, respectively. This is certainly good news, as we are going to see an expansion of Tolkien’s cinematic universe, but what might surprise fans is that Helm Hammerhand will not be the lead character in the film, as many expected!
No, as the news from Annecy confirms, the movie is going to be focused on Hèra (Gaia Wise), an important character from Tolkien’s mythos, who is going to be the lead character in the movie. This means that The War of Rohirrim is going to be the first female-led Lord of the Rings adaptation to-date, which is certainly great news!
And we’re not the only ones thinking that, no, as some of the fans who’ve seen the movie in Annecy have gone to social media – mostly Twitter (now X) – to share their thoughts and opinions, and from what we can gather, The War of Rohirrim promises to be a major hit, as the people who’ve seen it are impressed by the quality of the production, as well as the story and the characters:
Had the pleasure of seeing a sneak peak of The Lords of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. Honestly it’s absolutely stunning and I can’t wait for it to be released in cinemas.#JosephatAnnecy #AnnecyFestival #LOTR #Anime pic.twitter.com/ykERwMN94L
— 𝕵𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖕𝖍 𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖌 (@_JosephYoung_) June 11, 2024
By Ilúvatar, THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM looks stellar.
— Rafael Motamayor (@RafaelMotamayor) June 11, 2024
🚨 “But compared to last year it's much prettier, I'm reassured and I can't wait to see it in the cinema.”
— Fellowship of Fans (@FellowshipFans) June 11, 2024
From an attendee of the @annecyfestival panel and showcase of ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ who attended both last years and this years panel. pic.twitter.com/RcBFAqS8E3
We’re looking forward to the film and we are going to bring you more updates, so be sure to keep following us!
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