The War of the Rohirrim isn’t just wearing its status as a prequel to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies on its sleeve, but upon its helmet, armor, and boots too. After last stepping foot in Middle-earth with 2014’s The Battle of Five Armies, the final installment of his The Hobbit trilogy, Peter Jackson is gradually being pulled back into the realm of J.R.R. Tolkien as Warner Bros. prepares to let its next volley of movie releases fly.

Next on the menu is upcoming anime movie The War of the Rohirrim, set several hundred years prior to Frodo’s story and centered around a fight for the throne of Edoras and control of Rohan. The War of the Rohirrim is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, but Peter Jackson’s fingerprints are across it. Jackson himself is listed as an executive producer alongside fellow The Lord of the Rings trilogy mastermind Fran Walsh. Philippa Boyens, a co-writer on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, is a producer on the 2024 movie, and her daughter, Phoebe Gittins, is The War of the Rohirrim‘s co-writer.

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Set many years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, the War of the Rohirrim follows one of the most influential leaders in Rohan’s history.

The First 20 Seconds Of War Of The Rohirrim’s Trailer Is Taken From Peter Jackson’s LOTR Movies

It’s Okay, You Haven’t Accidentally Clicked An Old Trailer For The Two Towers

The War of the Rohirrim‘s trailer opens with “PETER JACKSON PRESENTS” emblazoned across a map of Rohan, and for a solid 20 seconds the footage is drawn exclusively from the director’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, namely The Two Towers. The trailer focuses upon Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn, and Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, while also revisiting the gorgeous Edoras sets that dazzled theater audiences in 2002. Eventually, the footage transitions into anime, but the connection to the live-action trilogy and Peter Jackson is front and center.

The strategy is understandable. The Lord of the Rings remains one of the most financially successful and critically acclaimed movie trilogies ever put to film, while, as an animated movie crafted in a Japanese style, The War of the Rohirrim occupies a less mainstream corner. Warner Bros. would almost be foolish not to call upon the power of Peter Jackson’s name and the renown of the original trilogy to promote its latest Middle-earth adventure. Even so, the whiff of nostalgia is surprisingly strong for a movie that, both stylistically and narratively, has little to do with the story told by The Lord of the Rings.

War Of The Rohirrim Takes Place Within Peter Jackson’s Movie Canon

Peter Jackson’s Vision Of Middle-earth Grows Larger

The War of the Rohirrim‘s Jackson-heavy trailer does at least provide very clear confirmation that the animated movie serves as a prequel to his The Lord of the Rings series and exists within the same universe. That may appear an obvious statement that shouldn’t need making – a story set 200 years before The Lord of the Rings is obviously a prequel. Because the rights to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings are messier than Radagast’s laundry, however, some releases – The Rings of Power, for instance – are set before Frodo’s quest, but do not explicitly exist within the canon of Peter Jackson’s movies.

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The Hobbit explores a time period before the Lord of the Rings, meaning Peter Jackson’s movies can be watched in more than one viewing order.

Quite cleverly, The War of the Rohirrim sets itself apart by connecting to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movies in the clearest way possible. Name-dropping Jackson himself, incorporating The Two Towers footage, the transitional wipe from live-action to anime – everything is designed to cement The War of the Rohirrim as a continuation of the iconic world Jackson brought to the big screen in the 2000s. From one perspective, it could be said that The War of the Rohirrim is pressing home an advantage The Rings of Power doesn’t have by calling upon the beloved The Lord of the Rings movies.

War Of The Rohirrim’s Trailer Is Just The Start Of Warner Bros. Banking On Your LOTR Nostalgia

“We’ve Had One, Yes, But What About A Second Lord Of The Rings Movie Series?”

The War of the Rohirrim‘s trailer comes with a healthy dose of nostalgia, and that aftertaste will linger for a while yet. In addition to 2024’s animated release, Andy Serkis has a Lord of the Rings movie based around Gollum in production, and his movie is touted as the beginning of a new dawn for Middle-earth in movie theaters. Evidently, Warner Bros. is looking to unearth more cinematic mithril from its Tolkien mine, and the mere concept of making a Gollum solo movie set so close to The Fellowship of the Ring suggests Serkis’ project will, like The War of the Rohirrim, embrace its roots within Peter Jackson’s movies.

How successful that strategy will be remains to be seen. On one hand, Tolkien’s gargantuan Middle-earth legendarium ensures no shortage of material to pull from. Warner Bros. could draw from that well for decades and never reach the bottom. On the other hand, The Lord of the Rings is a relatively small chapter in Arda’s history, and not many of Tolkien’s wider stories naturally connect to Frodo and company.

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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim steps on the toes of Prime Video’s existing prequel and has a better chance for public approval.

Even The War of the Rohirrim‘s relationship to the main movies is passing at best – the link to Rohan and Helm’s Deep doing a lot of heavy lifting. More Middle-earth content makes sense for Warner Bros., but sooner or later, those stories will need to stand alone without summoning the potent influence of Peter Jackson.

The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim

Set before the events of the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is an animated action-adventure fantasy film that follows a King of Rohan named Helm Hammerhand. When his home comes under siege by Dunlendings, Hammerhand prepares himself and his allies to fight back against them, with the war leading to the eventual establishment of Helm’s Deep.

Director

Kenji Kamiyama

Release Date

December 13, 2024

Cast

Brian Cox , Miranda Otto , Gaia Wise , Luke Pasqualino , Laurence Ubong , Shaun Dooley