"The Horn of Helm Hammerhand will sound in the deep, one last time!"
King Theoden channelled his mighty ancestor before leading the Rohirrim into battle in The Two Towers, and New Line and Warner Bros.' upcoming animated prequel film will explain how the first king of Rohan became such a revered - and feared - warrior.
20 minutes of footage from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was screened during the Annecy Animation Festival on Tuesday, and while that preview has not been released online, the response on social media was very postive indeed.
A trailer will likely be released fairly soon, but for now, we have a first official look at the anime-style feature film thanks to some promo images.
The stills come via EW and People, and reveal the character designs for Helm Hammerhand, Héra, Haleth, Hama, and the villainous Wulf.
The Middle Earth adventure, which is set almost 200 years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic trilogy, follows mighty King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand as he defends the fortress that came to be known as Helm's Deep from a relentless siege.
“This is the story of the most powerful king in Rohan's history, someone who defeated his enemies with his bare fists,” director Kenji Kamiyama tells EW. “Why did his lineage have to end with him? I think there is a lesson in hubris there and also for a need for responsibility and awareness in their power. We live in an age where, all over the world, we face the reality of war again. What, then, is power? What is the responsibility of those who possess it? It is something they need to think about by thinking together with those who don’t.”
Check out the images below.
Brian Cox (Succession) will voice Hammerhand, with Gaia Wise (A Walk in the Woods) as his daughter Hera; and Luke Pasqualino (Snowpiercer) Wulf. Miranda Otto is also set to reprise the role of Éowyn from Peter Jackson's LOTR movies, but the character won't actually appear (as far as we know), and will serve as narrator.
The supporting voice cast will consist of Lorraine Ashbourne (Bridgerton), Yazdan Qafouri (I Came By), Benjamin Wainwright (World on Fire), Laurence Ubong Williams (Gateway), Shaun Dooley (The Witcher), Michael Wildman (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Jude Akuwudike (Beasts of No Nation), Bilal Hasna (Sparks) and Janine Duvitski (Benidorm).
"A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg – a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep," reads the synopsis. "Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Hera, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction."
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim releases in cinemas on December 13.