With less than a month to go until The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power arrives on Prime Video, Embracer Group has announced that they've acquired Middle-earth Enterprises.
The company now owns the worldwide rights to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions relating to the iconic fantasy literary works The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.
What does this mean for the franchise's future?
Right now, it's hard to say, but a press release may shed some light on the company's future plans. As well as having a financial interest in The Rings of Power, it's said "Other opportunities include exploring additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn and other characters from the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien."
It's been a long time since The Lord of the Rings movies graced theaters, but when they did, the trilogy earned widespread critical acclaim, Oscar wins, and a whole heap of money at the box office. Spinoff movies revolving around those characters could be very good or very bad, but there's definitely going to be an interest from fans in the possibility of spending more time with those fan-favourites.
Embracer Group also nabbed the rights for other Middle-earth-related literary works authorized by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins, which have yet to be explored.
"I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group," says Lars Wingefors, Founder and Group CEO Embracer Group.
"I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio."
It could be an exciting few years for The Lord of the Rings franchise, and it's clear the plan is to expand the series on the big screen. Which characters will be put under the spotlight remains to be seen, but we're sure the names above were probably put out there to see how fans respond.
Keep checking SFFGazette.com for updates!