A new report suggests that The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim may have been doomed to fail due to a significant development in the franchise. The film, set 200 years before the events of The Hobbit, is set to take place in the Middle-earth timeline of Lord of the Rings, but is actually a low-risk, potentially high-reward project to ensure the future of the franchise.
According to the report, Warner Bros. was nearing the loss of The Lord of the Rings’ film rights, likely due to the 10-year gap between the culmination of The Hobbit and The War of the Rohirrim. As a result, the film was fast-tracked to keep the rights and ensure the franchise’s future, rather than being made for its own merit.
This prioritization of the franchise’s future over the quality of the film is said to have led to The War of the Rohirrim’s critical and commercial underperformance. Despite its 84% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, the film’s critical approval rating sits at 50%, and it only earned a worldwide total of just over $10 million in its opening weekend.
The report also suggests that Warner Bros. did not put adequate care into The War of the Rohirrim, treating it as a placeholder rather than a standalone film. This lack of care is said to have resulted in a film that is entertaining but ultimately forgettable.
Despite this, the future of The Lord of the Rings franchise looks bright, with multiple new movies and TV shows in the works. The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, set to release in 2026, is expected to reunite original trilogy creators with its cast members to tell a story tied intrinsically to The Fellowship of the Ring.
The report concludes that The War of the Rohirrim deserves a proper sequel with full care from the studio, and that the film’s potential for success was undermined by Warner Bros.’ prioritization of the franchise’s future over the quality of the film.