The rights of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were sold to video game company Embracer Group.
The rights of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit the books are incredibly complicated and somewhat difficult to follow. In the 1960s, the books technically fell into the public domain due to manufacturing and copyright laws in the United States. However, the international film, game and merchandising rights were eventually reclaimed by film producer Saul Zaentz through his company Saul Zaentz Co. under the ruling known as Middle Earth Enterprises. Deals were eventually struck with New Line Cinema, Miramax and eventually Warner Bros. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies to do. Now, the time of the company owning the rights is coming to an end.
Earlier this year, Saul Zaenty Co announced that it was interested in selling Middle Earth Enterprises. Given Amazon’s interest in The Lord of the Rings, the company was expected to reclaim the rights. Instead, the film, merchandise, theme park, and game rights to the franchise went to a company known as Embracer Group.
Embracer Group is a Swedish company mainly known for publishing video games. However, the company has also dipped its toes into other industries. In December last year, the company also bought comic book publisher Dark Horse Comics. It is currently unknown how the new deal will affect the upcoming film, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim.
Here is the synopsis of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to a time when great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin. , unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung on the thinnest of threads, and the greatest villain to ever spring from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover the entire world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows a cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the dreaded re-emergence of evil in Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elven capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the far reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that will last long after they left.
Amazon Studios product power rings in cooperation with Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema. JD Payne and Patrick McKay are the showrunners and executive producers of the series.
The entire show features Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers , and Daniel Weyman.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere September 1 on Amazon Prime Video. Stay tuned for all the latest news on how Embracer Group will affect the franchise going forward and be sure to subscribe to the Heroic Hollywood YouTube channel for more original video content.
Source: Variety
