Saul Zaentz Co. has decided to sell its Tolkien holdings, which includes various movie, merchandising, gaming, live event and theme park rights to “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and more.
The Tolkien properties are projected to fetch at least $2 billion and Amazon is reportedly at the top of the list of prime candidates to pursue the additional rights now held by Zaentz.
The potential sell-off comes months ahead of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” series which launches on September 2nd and is set to premiere its first trailer this weekend. A loophole in Zaentz’s original deal allowed Amazon to cut a deal directly with the Tolkien estate to produce the series.
Warner Bros. will maintain some film development rights to the franchise through its ownership of New Line Cinema. The anime theatrical feature “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” from Warner Bros. Animation is expected to still go forward.
Live-action film rights however have reverted back to Saul Zaentz Co. as Warners has not been actively developing new related content on that front.
Source: Variety
