The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is the latest entry in the celebrated and hugely popular Lord of the Rings series of films, and it tells the story of Helm Hammerhand defending the kingdom of Rohan from an army of Dunlendings. War of the Rohirrim reviews were split, though there weren’t many ardent defenders of the film, as its box office failings became apparent throughout its first weekend in theaters. Personally, I think the film is solid enough, but its release does have me worried about the upcoming plans for the Lord of the Rings franchise.
Since the rights to The Lord of the Rings franchise were sold a few years ago, the number of releases in the series has been steadily increasing, from video games, to TV shows, with an influx of new feature films that are set to be released, and unfortunately, War of the Rohirrim‘s mixed reactions are at the forefront. However, its release and the upcoming installments in the franchise have me worried that the Lord of the Rings series is going to see a lot of mistakes made in the name of trying to generate as much content as possible.
War Of The Rohirrim Didn’t Feel Like A LOTR Story That Needed A Movie
The Lord of the Rings is a huge franchise, so, of course, the rights holders are going to do everything they can to wring as much profit out of the IP as possible, but that absolutely has the chance to make the series feel less unique as more and more projects are released under its name. The War of the Rohirrim is fine, but it doesn’t feel like something that adds much to the history of the Lord of the Rings universe, it feels exactly like a short story ballooned out to two hours.
While War of the Rohirrim did an admirable job at taking what was written and expanding on it, it’s a worrying trend for the franchise to move towards.
The story of Helm Hammerhand and the Dunlendings comes from the original Lord of the Rings appendices, published by Tolkein at the end of the Return of the King book. I haven’t read through the full appendices myself, but the story of Helm and his family fighting the Dunlendings is a small part of the history of Rohan and the House of Eorl, and definitely not enough to fit an entire film. While War of the Rohirrim did an admirable job at taking what was written and expanding on it, it’s a worrying trend for the franchise to move towards.
War Of The Rohirrim Makes Me More Worried About The Hunt For Gollum
The Upcoming Prequel Is Very Similar To War Of The Rohirrim
The Lord of the Rings project set to come after War of the Rohirrim is a live-action film called The Hunt for Gollum, directed by Andy Serkis, who obviously played the character of Gollum in the original trilogy. The upcoming adaptation is similar to Rohirrim in that it is also pulled from a very small bit of Tolkien lore, which in this case is a chapter from The Fellowship of the Ring in which Gandalf explains to Frodo the history of the ring and Gollum, explaining that he and Aragorn had to capture Gollum.
The Hunt For Gollum is slated for release in 2026, with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens of the original Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies set to produce.
Again, I think that, despite being made mostly just to keep the LOTR rights, The War of the Rohirrim is a fine movie. However, the fact that the next film is also doing the exact same thing, mining for an obscure piece of Tolkien lore to try and stretch into a movie seems like a good way to get people to lose interest. The reason War of the Rohirrim bombed at the box office was because its base idea just wasn’t enough to make a truly great product, and the same may be true for the next one.
The Hunt For Gollum Is Even Harder To Get Right Than War Of The Rohirrim
The Film Will Have Even More Of An Uphill Battle
Unfortunately, The Hunt For Gollum is going to have an even harder time than War of the Rohrrim did, for a multitude of reasons, first and foremost being that the tale that the upcoming film is based on is even smaller than that of Helm. I think that the story of one of Rohan’s greatest kings is at least interesting, with a beginning, middle, and ending that The War of the Rohirrim uses, while The Hunt For Gollum essentially boils down to what it says in the title, that being Gandalf and Aragorn trying to find Gollum.
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Is War of the Rohirrim’s box office a bad sign for future Lord of the Rings movies?
While I was hoping for better results for War of the Rohirrim, I don’t think its failures suggest anything about future Lord of the Rings movies. Its box office performance could be related to Warner Bros.’s marketing strategy or just a general disinterest in animation. I doubt The Hunt for Gollum will achieve similar numbers to the original trilogy, but I think it could feasibly make somewhere around $400-500 million.
The upcoming prequel will also have to contend with the legacy of the original films and characters, which are beloved by so many, including myself. I love both Sir Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen’s performances in the original films, and while McKellen may return in The Hunt for Gollum, Mortensen more than likely won’t, leaving some very big shoes to fill. While The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was a decent time, the next projects coming to the franchise are going to face an uphill battle to win people over.
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.
- Runtime
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134 Minutes
- Director
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Kenji Kamiyama
