Seems Like LotR New Owners Haven't The Foggiest What to Do With It
Since Amazon's purchase of the TV rights to Tolkien's LotR and the subsequent release of The Rings of Power this year, Middle-Earth Enterprises along with the whole rights to the works of Tolkien have been bought by the Swedish video game mega-company Embracer Group.
Although the exact figure is unknown, the company was last evaluated at over $2 billion. And yet with so many projects coming out set within the Tolkien-verse, the new LotR owners seem at a loss of what to do with the keys to Middle-Earth.
The rights Embracer Group has acquired through Middle-Earth Enterprises include a few privileges for worldwide rights. Including the rights to motion pictures, video and board games, all types of merchandising, stage productions, and even theme parks relating to the literary works of Tolkien.
This may have cost them a lot of money to acquire although considering Peter Jackson's film trilogy has been estimated to have made close to $3 billion alone, it certainly can be a franchise that holds much value.
However, Middle-Earth Enterprises are not the only ones currently with rights to Tolkien's works.
As already mentioned, Amazon now owns TV rights to make series based on the books of LotR and The Hobbit. Warner Bros. Discovery (after acquiring New Line Cinema) now owns Peter Jackson's franchise and the licensed rights to make feature films of the books.
It seems clear that the rights around Tolkien's works are overly complicated. And not only could this make future projects either made individually or together between the three groups difficult, but it also puts current LotR projects in the pipeline at risk if Embracer Group decides to dispute them.
Including Amazon's RoP, the upcoming animated film The War of the Rohirrim by Warner Bros. Discovery, and EA's mobile game Heroes of Middle-Earth which is currently still in development.
Daedalic Entertainment's new game Lord of the Rings: Gollum is also still lingering in development after being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some are speculating that a dispute with Embracer Group may be what is holding the game back, which still hasn't received an official release date.
Whether rumours of licensing and rights debates are true or not, Embracer Group still faces a difficult situation. Several interested parties want to make use of their affluent rights to Tolkien. Which has proved its worth on many occasions. Yet it will be a big disadvantage for LotR to be overdone with multiple films, series, games, and other media released all at once. And with multiple LotR films and series that have either already been done or are currently in the works, it begs the question… what can they bring to the Tolkien-verse next?