First Looks of the New Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Anime

The War of the Rohirrim anime movie is the latest piece of Lord of the Rings lore to be adapted, and yesterday, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema shared first looks of what’s to come. The story is set more than 150 years before the original trilogy, and follows Helm Hammerhand, the legendary king of Rohan, who is played by Succession’s Brian Cox. Helm’s daughter, Héra (Gaia Wise), is faced with leading the defense against an enemy that would destroy her family.

The movie is directed by Kenji Kamiyama, who has produced anime classics such as Jin-Roh and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. And, producer Philippa Boyens, who cowrote the Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, had this to say about the anime adaptation: “There are certain things I don’t think we could have necessarily done — or they would have made it extremely expensive — elements to the storytelling that you could do in anime in a way that was kind of breathtaking, actually.”

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim anime will be in theaters December 13th. To learn more about it, visit Variety or People.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.