Embracer signs major Lord of the Rings movie deal
Video game publisher Embracer has announced a new movie deal to put The Lord of the Rings back on the big screen.
Embracer has had a mixed time of late, with its big budget Saints Row reboot failing to find an audience and its Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake from Aspyr reportedly being placed «on pause».
For Embracer, this lucrative film deal with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures is far more positive news. «Multiple» movies are planned, expanding on «the revered works of JRR Tolkien», including elements from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
Embracer acquired the rights to JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in August last year, and stated it hoped to explore «additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel [and] Eowyn».
There's no suggestion these new films will remake Peter Jackson's hugely popular two trilogies. Instead, it sounds like these new movies will cover fresh ground, albeit with familiar characters.
A story about Aragorn as king, perhaps? Or some more off-screen exploits for Gandalf?
Embracer also has no less than five Lord of the Rings video games in the works to be released before the end of March 2024. One of these is likely to be Daedalic's long-delayed Gollum game, of which Embracer will get a cut.
In total, the publisher has 224 games in the works, for release up to March 2028. But only a fraction of those — 31 in total — are set to be big budget «AAA» releases.
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