Lord of the Rings franchise to expand following Embracer Group acquisition

Amazon’s forthcoming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The Lord of the Rings franchise is set for further expansion after Sweden’s Embracer Group acquired the IP rights to JRR Tolkien’s fantasy literary works.

The video game and media company has agreed a deal, financial details of which were not disclosed, to acquire Middle-earth Enterprises, a division of The Saul Zaentz Company.

It means Embracer, via its wholly owned subsidiary Freemode, will own the rights to produce motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions relating to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.

It also includes other Middle-earth-related literary works authorised by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins, which have yet to be explored, such as The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales of Numenor & Middle-earth.

Media and entertainment investment bank ACF advised The Saul Zaentz Company on the sale of the IP.

Embracer said it would be “exploring” additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn and other characters from the literary works of Tolkien “and continue to provide new opportunities for fans to explore this fictive world through merchandising and other experiences.”

Key upcoming works set in Middle-earth, in which Middle-earth Enterprises has financial interests, include Amazon series The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, which will premiere on September 2.

It is also involved in animated movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, set for release in 2024 by Warner Bros, and mobile game The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, from Electronic Arts.

Embracer’s Asmodee Group is already a licensee of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit through board games and card games, having published over a dozen games since the release of The Lord of the Rings board game over 20 years ago.

Lars Wingefors, founder and group CEO of Embracer, said: “I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises, join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group.

“I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio.”