Lord of the Rings anime film in development at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Animation

A new anime The Lord of the Rings film is in development at New Line Cinemas and Warner Animation.

Titled The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the stand-alone anime feature will tell the bloody saga behind Helm’s Deep, the popular fortress which was depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan himself.

The film will be directed by veteran anime filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, from a screenplay by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance). Joseph Chou (Blade Runner: Black Lotus) is producing the film. Philippa Boyens, who won an Oscar for the screenplay for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, is serving as a consultant on the

According to Variety, though it is a stand-alone film, the new anime film will be connected to director Peter Jackson’s six Middle Earth films, which were based on the books of JRR Tolkien. However, this film will not be connected to Amazon's Lord of the Rings series that is currently in production.

The animation of this new feature will be handled by Sola Entertainment, and the casting for the voice roles are currently underway.

Notably, including the Hobbit trilogy, The Lord of the Rings franchise has grossed over $5.9 billion worldwide and is regarded as the film series with the most awards. The franchise has the highest number of Academy Awards and nominations including 11 Oscars for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which is a tie-record for most awards for a single film.