'I Didn't Expect to Feel This': Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim Stars on the 'Marriage' of Anime & Tolkien's Middle-Earth (2024)

The first anime adaptation of The Lord of the Rings will open this December. In the meantime, Warner Bros. Discovery has given fans another look at The War of the Rohirrim with commentary from the film's star-studded cast.

Warner Bros. Discovery has uploaded a new clip of its upcoming anime adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, which will open nationwide in theaters this December. The latest behind-the-scenes trailer interviews Kenji Kamiyama, the acclaimed anime filmmaker in charge of bringing the fantastical world of J. R. R. Tolkien to life through animation. Kamiyama has built an impressive career working on prestigious anime series like Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Blood: The Last Vampire and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim Reveals New Behind-the-Scenes Trailer

"When I got an offer to make an animated version of The Lord of the Rings because I was such a huge fan of the trilogy, the first thing that came to mind was, 'How can I possibly recreate Tolkien’s world?'" Kamiyama said. "There’s an unconscious sense of amazement when the general audience sees hand-drawn animation. The amazement that this is the work of a human hand." Before Lord of the Rings, Kamiyama worked on Blade Runner: Black Lotus, the 13-episode 3D animated action series produced by Adult Swim and Crunchyroll that took place within the Blade Runner movie franchise. However, Jason DeMarco, the senior vice president of action and anime programming for Warner Bros. Discovery and producer on The War of the Rohirrim, confirmed in 2022 that WBD wrote off the series (and others) following Sony’s acquisition of Crunchyroll, which ended the company’s relationship with Cartoon Network.

Kamiyama’s sentiment about audiences’ amazement over hand-drawn animation is similar to what Kiyotaka Oshiyama has said about his anime adaptation of Look Back, the critically acclaimed one-shot story by Tatsuki Fujimoto (Chainsaw Man). "I deliberately tried to leave lines that looked human," Oshiyama said in August. "Lines contain the artist's feelings, their will to paint something. If you trace them and make them look mechanical, the information in the lines is lost. I tried to show the lines directly on the screen. [...] Because it's becoming easier to create beautiful images using AI, I think these lines drawn by humans still have their place. Even if AI were to imitate humans and reproduce the rough sketches, it would just be a design. It would be a fake. The lines have meaning because they were drawn by humans. This may be the last time we'll be able to do this, but there's value in that. It's also connected to the praise of creators." Look Back is available to stream in the United States on Amazon’s Prime Video service and currently has a perfect Rotten Tomato score.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will open in North American theaters on Dec. 13, 2024. The film’s official description reads: "Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg— a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction."

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

PG-13

Animation

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

The untold story behind Helm's Deep, hundreds of years before the fateful war, telling the life and bloodsoaked times of its founder, Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan.

Director

Kenji Kamiyama

Release Date

December 13, 2024

Cast

Brian Cox , Miranda Otto , Gaia Wise , Luke Pasqualino , Laurence Ubong , Shaun Dooley

Runtime

134 Minutes

Main Genre

Fantasy

Production Company

Studio(s)

New Line Cinema , Warner Bros. Animation , Sola Entertainment

Distributor(s)

Warner Bros. Pictures

Sequel(s)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring , The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers , The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Franchise(s)

The Lord of the Rings

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