The ownership of Middle-earth just got a little more complicated as Swedish video game conglomerate, Embracer Group AB, acquires the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit for an estimated 8.2 billion Swedish Krona ($1.26 billion). And before the ink has even dried, there’s already been discussion of spin-off films to join Amazon’s highly-anticipated The Rings of Power as well as The War of the Rohirrim anime adaptation.
“Other opportunities include exploring additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn, and other characters from the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and continue to provide new opportunities for fans to explore this fictive world through merchandising and other experiences,” reads Embracer’s official press release.
“Embracer’s operative group Asmodee Group is already one of the most successful licensees of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit through board games and card games, having published over a dozen games with over 100 expansions since the release of The Lord of the Rings board game over 20 years ago, including classics such as The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth, a fully-cooperative, app-supported board game set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic land of Middle-earth.”
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The acquisition of these rights has been made possibly by Embracer’s purchase of Middle-earth Enterprises — a division of The Saul Zaentz Company, which holds an extensive catalogue of intellectual property and international rights. For context, the vast majority of Lord of the Rings-related media from the past few decades (including Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-winning trilogy) has only been possible with The Saul Zaentz Company’s cooperation.
Now, Embracer is free to produce motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions relating to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as “… matching rights in other Middle-earth-related literary works authorised by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins.”
“I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises, join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group,” said Lars Wingefors, Founder & Group CEO of Embracer.
“I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio.”
This ongoing saga has rivalled the works of Tolkien himself in complexity.
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Earlier this year, The Saul Zaentz Company expressed a desire to sell, causing something of a stampede from Hollywood. Given it was already developing a brand new property – and shelled out hundreds of millions just for the privilege to do so – Amazon was believed to be first in line. But that obviously fell through.
In addition to both Embracer Group AB / The Saul Zaentz Company, Warner Bros still maintains certain film development rights to The Lord of the Rings through its ownership of New Line Cinema (which was behind Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-winning trilogy).
“But it’s understood that in The Saul Zaentz Company’s view, substantial live-action film rights reverted back to them last year in part because Warner Bros had not been actively developing new The Lord of the Rings and related content,” explained Variety.
“That development, plus the anticipation for the new Amazon series, was enough to convince The Saul Zaentz Company it was ripe for a sale. Warner Bros declined to comment, but it is believed that the studio and Zaentz are already at odds over who controls what when it comes to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit rights, which have been the subject of extensive litigation over the years.”
In the early 2000s, The Saul Zaentz Company even pursued legal action against Warner Bros and New Line over its share of profits from the Peter Jackson trilogy. Additionally, both the Tolkien estate and publisher HarperCollins have sued Warner Bros multiple times over profits from said trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Expect to hear a lot more about this blockbuster transaction in the coming months.
