The gaming and film rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are going up on the market, leaving buyers in Hollywood and past able to scoop up one of many biggest-ever literary and media franchises.
As reported by Selection, movie manufacturing firm Saul Zaentz Co. is auctioning off an array of gaming, film, merchandising, dwell occasion, and theme park rights to varied works of JRR Tolkien.
The holdings are projected to fetch near $2 billion, with Amazon anticipated to be amongst these first in line to accumulate them. Selection reviews that Amazon might be trying to shore up its Center-earth holdings because it prepares to launch its new Tolkien TV present, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy.
The sale would not cowl all rights to Tolkien’s works, nonetheless. Warner Bros. maintains some film rights to The Lord of the Rings via its possession of New Line Cinema, and produced a handful of Center-earth video video games during the last a number of years, together with 2013’s Lego The Lord of the Rings and 2017’s Center-earth: Shadow of Warfare.
It additionally would not preclude the event of different video video games set in The Lord of the Rings universe. Daedalic Leisure continues to be engaged on a Gollum recreation, which was first introduced again in 2019, whereas The Lord of the Rings On-line continues to be standing after almost 15 years.
Evaluation: will Amazon make a Lord of the Rings online game?
Given the recognition and confirmed profitability of The Lord of the Rings title, we would anticipate Hollywood buyers and different publishers might be clamoring to say a bit of the Tolkien pie. The excitement environment Amazon’s upcoming TV present might very properly persuade the corporate {that a} larger funding within the franchise will make for good enterprise.
Ought to it scoop up the rights at public sale there’s nothing to ensure Amazon will produce a Lord of the Rings online game, however its previous growth exercise suggests it has a minimum of some curiosity in doing so. Solely final 12 months, Bloomberg reported that Amazon Gaming Studios had been co-developing a Lord of the Rings MMO with Chinese language studio Leyou Applied sciences. Nevertheless, following a dispute between Amazon and Leyou’s mum or dad firm, Tencent, the sport was canceled partway via.
At the moment, an Amazon spokesperson informed Bloomberg: “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are dissatisfied that we can’t be bringing this recreation to prospects”.
Earlier than that, Amazon Recreation Studios vice chairman Christoph Hartmann stated “Tolkien’s Center-earth is without doubt one of the richest fictional worlds in historical past, and it provides our crew of skilled MMO builders – from the identical studio creating New World – large alternative to play and create “
If Amazon is to accumulate The Lord of the Rings rights to feed its rising leisure empire, the latest success it is had with New World may immediate it to additionally put money into a Tolkien online game. We might properly see an Amazon brand stamped throughout The Fellowship someplace down the road.