In case you’ve forgotten, The Lord of the Rings is coming back to the big screen this year. No, it’s not a re-release of Peter Jackson’s film. It’s the anime film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex director Kenji Kamiyama. This is a major event film and it’s been quietly flying under the radar until now.
Set 183 years before events in Lord of the Rings, the story follows legendary king of Rohan, Helm Hammerhand, voiced by Succession‘s Brian Cox. If his name sounds familiar, it was the namesake for the legendary Battle of Helm’s Deep which saw the Rohan army destroy Saruman’s forces. But this takes place long before that, as Helm and his family defend their kingdom against the wild men of Dunland.
The voice cast also includes Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, and Miranda Otto who reprises her role as Eowyn, the story’s narrator. Dominic Monaghan, who played Merry in the original trilogy, also has an undisclosed voice role.
SYNOPSIS: “Set 183 years before the events of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy, ‘The War of Rohirrim’ tells the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary king of Rohan, and his family as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings. Helm goes on to be the namesake for the stronghold Helm’s Deep.“
Originally scheduled for April, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim now hits theaters on December 13th!
