With The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim failing to gain traction at the box office, Warner Bros. has decided to fast-track the film's digital release. Announced on social media, the anime fantasy film will be released on digital platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV+ on December 27 — just two weeks after its North American theatrical debut.
Set 183 years before Peter Jackon's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim takes us back to Middle-Earth for an original story of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. The film was deemed rotten by critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, where it sits at just 46%.
"This animated deep cut from The Lord of the Rings mythos has plenty of spectacle, but its clichéd characters and uneven animation resemble middle of the road more than they do Middle Earth," the critics consensus reads.
Audiences, however, seem to have a more favorable opinion of the movie, as evidenced by its 83% on the Popcornmeter. Unfortunately, this does not seem to have translated to financial success for Warner Bros. As of this week, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rhorrim sits at a worldwide box office total of just $15 million — about half of its production budget.
The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim is directed by award-winning filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama (the “Blade Runner: Black Lotus” and “Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex” TV series) from a screenplay by Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins (“The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” Trliogies) & Arty Papageorgiou. Sola Entertainment, inspired by Jackon's films, is responsible for providing the traditional 2D animation.
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 features a star-studded cast led by Brian Cox (“Succession”) as Helm Hammerhand, the mighty King of Rohan; Gaia Wise (“A Walk in the Woods”) as his daughter Héra; and Luke Pasqualino (“Snowpiercer”) as Wulf. Miranda Otto returns to reprise her role as Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan and the film's narrator.
With The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim available this week for digital purchase or rental, it should only be a couple of more weeks before it winds up on Max for general streaming.