Lord of the Rings stars and crew gather with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark (5th-R, grey shawl) and Mayor of Wellington City Kerry Prendergast (4th-R, red shawl) during the world premiere of the film, "Lord of the Rings - Return of the King" at the Embassy Theatre December 1, 2003 in Wellington, New Zealand. (Photo by Dean Treml/Getty Images) Warner Bros, owned by Warner Bros Discovery WBD.N, said it had reached a multi-year agreement to collaborate on new films with Middle-earth Enterprises, a unit of Embracer Group AB EMBRACb.ST.
"The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, which began in 2001, won 17 Oscars. Three "Hobbit" films were released starting in 2012. The six films, directed by Peter Jackson, hauled in more than $6 billion at global box offices.
"For all the scope and detail lovingly packed into the two trilogies, the vast, complex and dazzling universe dreamed up by J.R.R. Tolkien remains largely unexplored on film," Warner Bros. Pictures Group co-chairs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy said in a statement.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Caitlin Webber)