Fans eager to return to Peter Jackson's take on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth won't have to wait much longer. The new Lord of the Rings anime movie, War of the Rohirrim, has already opened in certain international markets and is set to open in North America December 13.
The Anime Away team is here to answer all the questions you may have about The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
In addition to the trailer released earlier this fall, Warner Bros. has also released an eight-minute extended preview to help catch fans up on what to expect from the new anime movie:
What is War of the Rohirrim about?
War of the Rohirrim is set about 200 years before the events of the original Lord of the Rings books and Peter Jackson's film trilogy. The story follows legendary King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand. That name should be familiar to Lord of the Rings fans — he is the namesake of Helm's Deep, where the climactic battle in The Two Towers between the army of Rohan and Saruman's Uruk-hai took place. Other major characters in War of the Rohirrim include Helm's daughter Héra, Helm's sons Haletha and Hama and their enemies, the Dunlending leaders Freca and Wulf. The film will be narrated by Éowyn, the princess of Rohan who appeared in the original trilogy.
The official trailer includes the following summary:
"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."Warner Bros.
Is War of the Rohirrim based on a book?
Short answer: yes. Although the events depicted in War of the Rohirrim are only alluded to in the story of The Lord of the Rings — there are brief explanations of who Helm Hammerhand was in the books and a statue of him is depicted at Helm's Deep in the movies — the story being adapted for screen in War of the Rohirrim comes from the Appendices included at the end of The Lord of the Rings, which include information to flesh out the history of Middle-earth.
Specifically, the basis for War of the Rohirrim comes from Appendix A, specifically Section II, which summarizes the history of Rohan and its Kings. However, the information as originally written by Tolkien in the Appendices is fairly minimal. In total, the six Appendices included by Tolkien are only about 200 pages, and the account of Helm Hammer is only about three oages. Notably, in the story as told in the Appendices, Helm's daughter is never given a name. The writers of War of the Rohirrim have had to add a lot of their own content to fill out the runtime of a feature-length movie.
Who are the cast and crew?
War of the Rohirrim sees several acclaimed producers and writers returning to Middle-earth. Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh serve as executive producers. Philippa Bowens, who co-wrote the Jackson movies, returns with contributions to the story of War of the Rohirrim, as well as serving as producer alongside Jason DeMarco and Joseph Chou. The film is being animated by Japanese studio Sola, with Kenji Kamiyama directing. Kamiyama has previously adapted Western works into anime through his work on Blade Runner: Black Lotus and a segment of Star Wars: Visions. His other works include the 2019 Ultraman series and various entries in the Ghost in the Shell franchise.
The cast includes:
• Brian Cox (Succession, Ironclad) as Helm Hammerhand
• Gaia Wise as Héra
• Luke Pasqualino (Snowpiercer, BBC's Three Musketeers) as Wulf
• Shaun Dooley (Netflix's The Witcher series, Elden Ring) as Freca
Miranda Otto reprises the role of Éowyn from the Jackson trilogy to narrate the film. Archival voice footage will see the late Christopher Lee return as Saruman.
Due to opening in international markets first before debuting in North America, various outlets are already aggregating reviews for War of the Rohirrim. As of this writing, the movie has a score of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes and 58 on Metacritic.
Keep following the Anime Away team for all the latest about The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim and other new anime TV and movie debuts.