Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boynes will indeed produce the two new films from the Lord of the Rings universe, the first of which is due to be released in cinemas as early as 2026. Embracer and its subsidiary Middle-earth Enterprises have not revealed any new games from the licence.

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum will be directed by and star Andy Serkis. This has been announced by Embracer and Middle-earth Enterprises. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boynes will write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The film will be executive produced by Ken Kamins. The announcement coincides with the revelation that the trio of Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boa, the team behind The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, will indeed be reuniting for the production of two films from Tolkien's Middle-earth brand universe.

Both fans and the industry had been hoping and speculating about such a reunion ever since it was announced in February 2023 that there would be two more film projects from the world of Lord of the Rings. The first film is set for theatrical release in 2026.

It is unclear whether there will be any game adaptations of the new films. Just last month it was announced that the Cozy Game Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is in development with Private Division and Weta Workshop. And as recently as 2023, it was revealed that Amazon Games is working on a Lord of the Rings MMORPG. On the other hand, it is not unlikely that there will be games based on the new films. After all, one of the three parts into which the Embracer Group will be split is called Middle Earth Enterprises and Friends. So it would be surprising if they didn't make LotR games themselves.

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Written by

Stephan Steininger
Stephan Steininger
Stephan is Editor in Chief