The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies are for sale
The film rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit will be sold in Hollywood this week. Tolkien's beloved fantasy novel is about to be adapted into the TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Thrones on Amazon Prime Video. In the early 2000s, Peter Jackson brought the Lord of the Rings films to Hollywood and produced a trilogy based on Frodo's adventures. Later, the director went on to direct Bilbo Baggins' Hobbit trilogy.
It's been nearly eight years since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was released, and it was the last film in the series to be developed. Warner Bros. announced last year that it was working on an animated film, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle of Rohailin. In addition to this, the development of this series of films has not been active, mainly because Warner Bros. gave up the rights to the live-action version and did not develop new adaptations for this purpose.
Saul Zaenz has decided to sell Tolkien's stake, which includes rights to the movies, peripherals, games and live events associated with The Lord of the Rings. The sale of these rights is expected to take place this week, and Amazon is reportedly the "preferred candidate" for obtaining those rights and expanding its rights to operate The Lord of the Rings.
The Saul Zaenz Company's decision to sell, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and Tolkien's other works from Middle-earth, could spark a big bidding war in Hollywood. The company is expected to receive at least $2 billion from each of Tolkien's properties. Given Amazon's investment in The Ring of Thrones, it's no surprise that they're interested in it. If Amazon wins this sale, it will have the ability to make live-action movies based on upcoming TV series. Of course, other large film companies are also expected to win the film rights to The Lord of the Rings.
Amazon is the most likely company to acquire the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, which could push up the purchase price of other potentially interested film companies such as Warner Bros. Since Warner Bros. and New Line Pictures have worked together on Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" trilogies and made billions of dollars as a result, the attempt to regain ownership is also reasonable. But then again, if Warner Bros. is concerned that the Reboot of The Lord of the Rings won't be popular again, they may also choose not to bid and instead let other studios make this potential mistake.
