The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie and video game rights are going to go on sale for an estimated $2 billion, with Amazon first in line to buy.
The Lord of the Rings
According to Variety, the Saul Zaentz Company, which controls a slew of cinematic, game, merchandise, live event, and theme park rights to numerous J.R.R. Tolkien properties, will auction them off later this week.
Amazon is allegedly eager to secure the rights to accompany their Lord of the Rings TV series, The Rings of Power, which premieres on September 2nd (with a first look coming at the Super Bowl).
The sale also includes restricted matching rights in the event that the Tolkien Estate, the legal entity in charge of Tolkien's work, produces films or other content based on Tolkien's work after his death.
The Lord of the Rings Film and Game Rights
Through its ownership of New Line Cinema, which produced the live-action film trilogy, Warner Bros. retains partial movie rights to The Lord of the Rings, but the Saul Zaentz Company thinks the rights were returned to them in 2021 since Warner Bros. was not actively generating new content.
The true owner of the film rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit has been the subject of numerous legal battles over the years.
Given the Saul Zaentz Company's belief that it now holds those rights, as well as the excitement generated by Amazon's TV series, it appears that now is the moment to sell.
The Rings of Power, an anticipated Amazon TV series set during the Second Age, features a large cast, starring Joseph Mawle and Robert Aramayo.
Comments
Post a Comment