Cast Announced for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM Anime Film and Concept Art
The full voice cast has been announced for Warner Bros. Animation and New Line Cinema’s upcoming J.R.R. Tolkien anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The cast included Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, and Miranda Otto, who is set to reprise her role as Éowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, from the original trilogy. She will serve as the tale’s narrator.
The story takes place two centuries before the events of Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and it will “explore the exploits of Helm Hammerhand, the King of Rohan, and the creation of Helm’s Deep, the stronghold.” That stronghold was featured in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Brian Cox will provide the voice to the Helm Hammerhand, the mighty King of Rohan, who is a character from the Tolkien book’s appendix. The concept art above features Helm Hammerhand.
The movie is set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films. “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, Hera, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”
Gala Wise (A Walk in the Woods) will play Hammerhand’s daughter Hera, and Luke Pasqualino (Snowpiercer) will portray Wulf. The rest of the voice cast includes Lorraine Ashbourne (Netflix’s Bridgerton), Yazdan Qafouri (I Came By), Benjamin Wainwright (BBC One’s World on Fire), Laurence Ubong Williams (Gateway), Shaun Dooley (Netflix’s The Witcher), Michael Wildman (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Jude Akuwudike (Beasts of No Nation), Bilal Hasna (BBC’s Sparks) and Janine Duvitski (ITV’s Benidorm).
The movie is being directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and it will be produced by Joseph Chou through his anime studio Sola Entertainment.
It’s been explained that The War of the Rohirrim is going to “draw much of its creative DNA from Jackson’s six features set in Middle-earth.” Philippa Boyens, who was part of the screenwriting team for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, is executive producing the film. She said in a statement: “I’m in awe of the creative talent who have come together to bring this epic, heart-pounding story to life, from the mastery of Kenji Kamiyama to a truly stellar cast.”
Phoebe Gittins, Boyens’ daughter, and writing partner Arty Papageorgiou are writing the script, which was previously worked on by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews. The rest of the creative team includes Richard Taylor, who won Oscars for makeup and visual effects for Jackson’s films, and Tolkien illustrator John Howe.
The film is currently in production at Sola Entertainment and the movie will be released in theaters on April 12th, 2024. I’m in credibly excited about this!