Lord Of The Rings: War Of The Rohirrim Footage Debuts Alongside Huge Announcement

As part of the Annecy Animation Festival, Warner Bros. and New Line debuted about 20 minutes of footage from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim and made an exciting announcement about the film. That announcement is that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, the Oscar-winning creative minds behind The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, have joined the film as executive producers.

War of the Rohirrim director Kenji Kamiyama appeared at the event alongside Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and will direct the next live-action film, The Hunt for Gollum. The new footage was not released publicly, however, and it seemingly hasn't leaked from the presentation either. However, those in attendance have shared details about the footage, including how Brian Cox's Helm Hammerhand punched a dude to death.

The film takes place about 200 years before Bilbo first came to find the One Ring. It introduces viewers to Princess Hera (Gaia Wise) and King Helm Hammerhand (Cox). Miranda Otto, who played Eowyn in the live-action Lord of the Rings series, returns in War of the Rohirrim to voice that character.

As reported by Variety, Serkis said he expects Lord of the Rings fans to "go nuts" for War of the Rohirrim. The film is set for release in theaters this December.

The voice cast also includes Lorraine Ashbourne (Bridgerton), Yazdan Qafouri (I Came By), Benjamin Wainwright (World on Fire), Laurence Ubong Williams (Gateway), Shaun Dooley (The Witcher), Michael Wildman (Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), Jude Akuwudike (Beasts of No Nation), Bilal Hasna (Sparks), and Janine Duvitski (Benidorm).

In other Lord of the Rings news, Ian McKellen recently said he would come back to play Gandalf again in The Hunt for Gollum if he's still alive when it's made. The TV series The Rings of Power, meanwhile, returns this August for its second season.