Peter Jackson To Produce New 'Lord Of The Rings' Film To Release In 2026

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 9, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Film | May 9, 2024 |

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King was released over twenty years ago. It still holds up. All of Peter Jackson’s famed trilogy holds up well. Based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the films gave a definitive version of that world which was loved by fans old and new (unless you’re a Tom Bombadil stan). Jackson returned to Middle Earth years later to adapt the Hobbit into a new trilogy, but it wasn’t the same.

Now, Jackson is popping on his hairy feet and venturing to Mordor again. Variety reports that everyone’s least favorite CEO (which is really saying something), David Zaslav, confirmed a new set of Lord Of the Rings films is being developed at Warner Brothers Discovery. The script for the first film is in early development, with a targeted release in 2026. It aims to “explore storylines yet to be told,” so chin up, Bombadil heads.

Zaslav said Jackson “will be involved every step of the way.” “Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful and revered franchises in history and presents a significant opportunity for theatrical business,” said Zaslav, likely between laps in a pile of gold doubloons. The Lord Of The Rings trilogy has made Warner Brothers a lot of money, so it makes sense that the CEO’s eyes turned into dollar signs while he made the announcement (allegedly).

Between this and a new series based on the Harry Potter books, Zaslav’s reign as head of WBD continues to be void of creativity or originality. There are no new ideas. He looks at what has worked in the past and says “Let’s do that again, so I can keep paying myself 50 million dollars a year for doing nothing,” I assume. I’m not even totally against making new Lord Of The Rings films. Running it back with Jackson again feels hollow, and Zaslav’s presence brings an undeniable stink.

I enjoyed Amazon’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power (not everyone did). That show is planned to last for five seasons. With this announcement, there’s a chance we will see Middle Earth on TV and the big screen in 2026. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t make the property feel less special. I don’t need Lord Of The Rings to go the way of Star Wars or the MCU, but as long as people like Jeff Bezos and David Zaslav control these decisions, that’s likely going to happen. After all, there’s profit to be had.