HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
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Lord of the Rings: Return of the Rumor
- Thread starter Disneyhead'71
- Start date
some other guy
Well-Known Member
yeah and Oz media has very mixed reception the past few decades outside of the 1939 movie, even the books are pretty obscure by this point (and also really really weird)
Wicked is still very popular and it's owned by Universal.
some other guy
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah there's been _some_ successes but I can see reasons why a company could be hesitant to go all in on an Oz thing.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
Christopher Tolkien just passed away At the age of 95. May he rest in piece. He protect his father’s work till the day he died. Let the theme park rights war begin!!
The Grand Inquisitor
Well-Known Member
RIP! I really hope LOTR can come to the Universal Parks. It has such potential to be truly amazing!
sedati
Well-Known Member
As I understand it, he resigned from his position as director of both the Tolkein Estate and Trust two years ago.
Milla4Prez66
Active Member
Universal has been after LOTR rights for an extremely long time. Like longer than Potter long. The Tolkien estate is just not interested and if Universal changed their minds already then they would be shoving it into Epic Universe as their main attraction. It just will never happen, and I’m totally okay with that.
The Pho
Well-Known Member
Unless the laws get extended again, we aren’t that far from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings entering into the public domain, 2032 and 2050. And if we get to that, it’s just a matter of whether they want to build it or not. So as of right now, they could open one within 10 years of their new park opening without needing the rights.
Josh Hendy
Well-Known Member
I have no idea who Tolkien's heirs are or what makes them tick, but to me it seems weird that anybody would refuse to consider accepting what is essentially Free Money. I fully understand that it doesn't buy happiness, yadda yadda. But if you really think that way you could donate what you want to ... I don't know ... vaccine research or something. Or to a charity that sends sick children to theme parks. Didn't J.M. Barrie donate Peter Pan's royalties to an orphanage?
I think something being in public domain would actually turn Universal off more than anything. They wouldn't want to be one of a hundred or so parks who decide to try their hand at this particular IP.
His heirs are already wealthy. And they probably associate theme parks with Disney, whom Tolkien hated.
Josh Hendy
Well-Known Member
If you mean Christopher Tolkien, he resigned some time ago from managing the estate and died last January.
The estate spent a lot of time stuck in lawsuits arising from JRR having sold the film rights in 1969.
The current situation may be a bit unwieldy with Chris Tolkien's second wife and various step siblings involved. However they managed to get their act together to the extent of selling TV rights to Amazon in 2017 so it wouldn't surprise me if they also get something going on the theme park front especially since the clock is ticking on The Hobbit's copyright.
The Tolkien Trust - Wikipedia
Tolkien Estate - Wikipedia
Tolkien family - Wikipedia
Yiceorenil
New Member
Any excitement around the Lord of the Rings movie is very pleasing to fans. Everyone hopes that a new part will be released after all, or a trailer will appear. But there is nothing yet. All because the Lord of the Rings is the best movie and everyone is looking forward to the sequel.
There is even a unique forum dedicated to the talent and creativity of Tolkien. All the fans of the film gathered at https://www.thetolkienforum.com/wiki/Lothlórien. There is just an incredible atmosphere at this forum, which is saturated with this film. There everyone shares with each other rumors, expectations about the film. It's really a fantastic atmosphere.
There is even a unique forum dedicated to the talent and creativity of Tolkien. All the fans of the film gathered at https://www.thetolkienforum.com/wiki/Lothlórien. There is just an incredible atmosphere at this forum, which is saturated with this film. There everyone shares with each other rumors, expectations about the film. It's really a fantastic atmosphere.
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I love rumors like this!
It aged well too.
Rosso11
Well-Known Member
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/...it-tolkien-zaentz-rights-sale-1235176036/amp/
“The Zaentz Co. holdings encompass rights to exploit “LOTR” and “The Hobbit” properties in film, video games, merchandising, live events and theme parks.”
looks like LOTR might finally be coming to a Theme Park. Whoever pays 2 Billion dollars for the full package I’m sure will not sit on the theme park rights for too long. The questions is who will buy them? Will Universal or Disney bid? I’m sure they are both at least exploring it. If it’s not a company who has an existing theme park that wins I would guess they will sell or license the rights to someone else. This will be very interesting to watch.
“The Zaentz Co. holdings encompass rights to exploit “LOTR” and “The Hobbit” properties in film, video games, merchandising, live events and theme parks.”
looks like LOTR might finally be coming to a Theme Park. Whoever pays 2 Billion dollars for the full package I’m sure will not sit on the theme park rights for too long. The questions is who will buy them? Will Universal or Disney bid? I’m sure they are both at least exploring it. If it’s not a company who has an existing theme park that wins I would guess they will sell or license the rights to someone else. This will be very interesting to watch.
Jphaddad96
Member
I'm a big fan of LOTR, but everytime that my head thinks about a LOTR land at USF, I think, is this a movie that the actual new generations like and they would love to have a land of the trilogy? I'm not from the US, and I always have the same question, is there a big fandom of the movies? 
Who wants the rights to use Tolkien IP when anybody can appeal directly to the heirs to also exploit Tolkien IP? If the rights aren't exclusive, they're pretty much worthless (which is probably why these right are being dumped in the general market).
Disney already has plenty of family friendly and more easily digestible medieval fantasy properties, that they don't need something so hard core. A live action Black Cauldron and a Willow sequel are on the way...
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
I don't know why anyone would want Disney to buy these rights - they can't even begin to properly exploit most of the properties they have in their theme parks. Look at Avengers Campus or Frozen Ever After. If fans want a LotR land (or lands), it has to be Universal.
I don't see here that the specific rights to LotR and Hobbit off-shoots would be non-exclusive, and for a theme park land, those are the relevant IPs. It does highlight the tricky, loophole-laden nature of the rights and the litigious inclinations of other parties, however, which might be a deterrent. It would take a much longer article to sort the whole thing out.
I'd argue LotR absolutely does still hold massive appeal to a wide audience, and along with Star Trek and the DC Universe is one of the last huge IPs without a strong theme park presence. It has an easily identifiable aesthetic, multiple complex, appealing, visually distinct settings, and an absurdly fleshed-out world full of objects and foodstuffs that a theme park could exploit. The original LotR remains, in my opinion, the most consistently artistic successful trilogy in pop culture, with only the first three Toy Stories offering competition (do they still count as a trilogy?)
The idea that LotR is "hard core" or inaccessible is silly, especially in a world with hit media based on Game of Thrones and The Witcher. It's DNA is woven into almost all modern fantasy (in part because of how adroitly Tolkien repurposed existing mythology) in a way akin to how "Disney's version" is woven into modern fairy tales. It's in the pop culture zeitgeist so that even folks who haven't read the books or seen the films know some of the terms and ideas, just like SW and Potter and Trek. And the idea that Black Cauldron or Willow are in any way comparable is madness.
Rosso11
Well-Known Member
I completely agree with everything you said here. The fact is someone is going to get these rights and then need to make their investment back somehow. Personally I hope it’s Warner Brothers but I bet it’s going to be Amazon. However I don’t put it past Disney to try and go for them. Disney did hold the film rights in the past through Miramax and Eisner has said that was one of his bigggest regrets as CEO was not moving forward with the trilogy. So who knows? But yea I’m really curious to see how this unfolds.
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