Lord of the Rings film and game rights are being sold for an estimated $2 billion

According to a recent report by foreign media Variety, the film adaptation rights, merchandise development rights, and game production rights of JRR Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", "The Hobbit" and a series of other works will be auctioned.

Saul Zaentz's company has decided to sell the copyrights of Tolkien's works, including the rights to adapt movies, games, peripheral products, theme parks, etc. of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". In addition, there are "restricted adaptation rights" of "The Silmarillion" and "Unfinished Tales" published after Tolkien's death in 1973 (subject to approval by the Tolkien Estate Committee), with a total valuation of more than $2 billion.

ACF Investment Bank will handle the sales process and is investigating reasonable Hollywood buyers. Media analysis shows that it is no coincidence that the film and game adaptation rights of "The Lord of the Rings" are sold at this time. The Amazon series "The Lord of the Rings" will be broadcast on September 2, with a total cost of $465 million for the first season, which shows that the series has high hopes, and Amazon is also the first choice of potential buyers.

Previously, Warner Bros. Pictures held some of the rights to develop the "Lord of the Rings" series of films through its ownership of New Line Cinema. But last year, a large number of live-action film adaptation rights returned to Zaentz's company. In their view, Warner Bros. did not actively develop new "Lord of the Rings" projects. Coupled with the strong expectations for Amazon's new series, Zaentz's company was determined to sell the adaptation rights.