Cinema is heading back to Middle-earth, with Warner Bros and New Line making a deal to make more adaptations of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. On Thursday, Warner Bros Discovery’s CEO, David Zaslav, announced on an earnings call that a deal had been brokered to make “multiple” films based on JRR Tolkien’s books. The cost of the deal has yet to be revealed. The films will be developed through Warner Bros production company New Line Cinema, which produced the trilogy made by director Peter Jackson between 2001 and 2003. Those films grossed almost $3bn around the world, with the third instalment, Return of the King, winning 11 Oscars including best picture at the Academy Awards. In a joint statement to Variety, Jackson and his two closest Lord of the Rings collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, said Warner Bros and Embracer “have kept us in the loop every step of the way” about the new films. “We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward,” Jackson, Walsh and Boyens said. Swedish gaming company Embracer Group currently owns the rights to Tolkien’s world, after it acquired the rights to Lord of the Rings film, games, merchandise, theme parks and live productions when it bought the then rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises in 2022. “Following our recent acquisition of Middle-earth Enterprises, we’re thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of JRR Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways,” said Lee Guinchard, the CEO of Embracer Freemode. “We understand how cherished these works are and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros Pictures, we plan to honor the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values.” The deal has been described as a multi-year deal that will mean Warner Bros can develop feature films based on both Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books and the Hobbit. Zaslav, who has overseen major cuts at Warner Bros Discovery as part of a major restructure, has previously talked about the need for more franchises on the big screen on earnings calls. New Line and Warner Bros Animation are currently working on The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an animated film set 183 years before the events in Lord of the Rings. The movie, which expands on the House of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary leader of the kingdom of Rohan, is set to be released in cinemas in April 2024. Amazon continues to own the TV rights to Lord of the Rings. The tech giant’s first show, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, cost more than $450m to make.