Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy has gone down in cinema legend – and even though the last of the three films, The Return of The King, was released way back in 2003, the series is still revered by movie fans everywhere. So, when it was announced that another instalment based on J.R.R Tolkien’s much-loved work was coming out in 2024, the anticipation was tangible.
The new film – titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – will be showing at Cineworld cinemas from 13 December. But what do we know about it, and why should you come and see it? To find out, read on!
It’s an anime film
The War of the Rohirrim differs from the previous three Lord of the Rings films in that it’s animated – more specifically, it’s made in the popular anime style that originated in Japan. The director, Kenji Kamiyama, is one of the leading lights in the anime movie industry, having helmed the likes of Ghost in the Shell, Star Wars: Visions and Blade Runner: Black Lotus. While the look of the film echoes his previous works, there is some continuity from the original trilogy, thanks to several of the creatives from Jackson’s movies returning for this project. If you want to know what the film looks like, check out the trailer (above).
It pre-dates the Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Rohirrim may well ring a bell among Tolkien die-hards. They’re a tribe of horsemen from the kingdom of Rohan, Middle-earth, and their history is detailed in the author’s original appendices for The Lord of the Rings. The script for this movie is based on that history – set 183 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, it centres around a legendary king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand, who, together with his family, must defend their stronghold from an army of dunlendings.
Brian Cox plays the lead role
Voicing the character of Helm Hammerhand is British stage and screen legend Brian Cox (Churchill, Succession). In an interview with fan site TheOneRing.net, the film’s producer Philippa Boyens describes him as “unsurprisingly brilliant, which is fantastic for us and for the fans. I think they’re just going to love him.” Cox is joined on the cast by Emma Thompson’s daughter Gaia Wise (playing Helm’s daughter, Hèra) and Australian actress Miranda Otto, who returns as Eowyn – the role she played in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.
The soundtrack composer worked on The Hobbit
If you loved the music in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, we have some bad news but also some good news. The bad news is that the composer who worked on those movies, Howard Shore, didn’t come back for The War of the Rohirrim. The good news is that music editor Stephen Gallagher wrote the music for this anime release. Gallagher worked closely with Shore on the Hobbit trilogy, and his score is said to continue the Oscar-winning composer’s style.
Critics have been raving about it
With The War of the Rohirrim not due out until December, there aren’t any reviews of the movie as yet. However, a ‘work in progress’ was shown at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival back in June, and it’s fair to say that those in attendance were impressed by what they saw. One person tweeted: “Just finished the work in progress talk for the new #LotR film #WaroftheRohirrim, and I have to say that the marriage between Lord of the Rings and #anime never looked so good! The world and characters looked very authentic. I can’t wait to see this in theaters next year.” And another gushed: “The War of the Rohirrim is already shooting to the top of my most anticipated movies of 2024. The (very short and unfinished) footage shown at #Annecy2023 looks fantastic. This is 100% in line with the original trilogy while also very much an anime. Can’t wait.”
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