With Netflix reaching an agreement to take over Warner Bros. last week, many have concern and curiosity about what happens to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power if the streaming giant completes the deal. After all, the show is streamed by Netflix’s biggest rival, Amazon’s Prime Video, while Warner Bros. has a major hand in producing it.
Netflix’s Warner Bros. deal will mean it owns the whole of Warner Bros. Entertainment, the legacy company’s studio wing, as well as its IP rights and entire back catalog. That is, if it manages to ward off a rival takeover bid from Paramount through shareholders, and get the takeover signed off by regulators in the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Rings of Power season 3 is just around the corner, with filming expected to wrap this month. But a heavy cloud will be hanging over the season, and not just because fans are divided over the series so far.
Warner Bros. is rereleasing the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy in theaters during January 2026, and Netflix is likely to complete their takeover by the end of next year. The return of the original big-screen trilogy will encourage direct comparisons with The Rings of Power, reminding everyone that it’s Warner Bros. (and therefore, potentially Netflix) who hold the franchise’s trump cards.
Prime Video’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Is Co-Produced By Warner Bros.
Although The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power doesn’t quite match up to one of the all-time great movie trilogies, it does have the same stylistic traits, and very much feels part of the same universe. What’s more, Warner. Bros’ latest Lord of the Rings movie complements The Ring of Power in animated form.
That’s because the original trilogy, The War of the Rohirrim, and The Rings of Power are all produced by the same Warner Bros. subsidiary studio, New Line Cinema. If Netflix does take over the company’s ownership, it will also own this studio, along with every other Warner Bros. subsidiary, including The War of the Rohirrim’s co-producer Warner Bros. Animation.
The Rings of Power is co-produced by Amazon MGM Studios, too, but it wouldn’t be the same without New Line Cinema’s decisive input. Netflix’s deal means that it would hold the keys to the production company responsible for so much of what makes the show work.
Warner Bros. Currently Holds The Film Rights To The Lord Of The Rings Franchise
Following The War of the Rohirrim, Warner Bros. has two more upcoming Lord of the Rings movies in the works. Andy Serkis’ The Hunt for Gollum is penciled in for release in late 2026, while there’s another as-yet untitled big-screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.
These films fall under the movie rights for the entire franchise, which the Hollywood conglomerate continues to hold. Warner Bros. renewed the licensing deal for these big-screen rights with Embracer, the company which owns the rights, in February 2023. It’s a long-term agreement, and the expiration terms haven’t been made public.
On this basis, Warner Bros. will continue to control the Lord of the Rings movie franchise going forward, including if Netflix takes it over. Netflix wouldn’t just inherit the iconic original trilogy, or the current crop of new franchise films. It would take ownership of the licensing agreement Warner Bros. has for any Lord of the Rings movie.
Of course, this agreement is also subject to renewal at some stage. But Netflix would undoubtedly look to keep hold of one of its biggest cinematic assets. It would command a Lord of the Rings empire, the envy of the whole movie industry – including Amazon MGM Studios.
Amazon Has A 5-Season Lord Of The Rings TV Deal With The Tolkien Estate
Nevertheless, the Lord of the Rings movie rights that Warner Bros. currently holds don’t cover TV shows of eight episodes or more. It’s Amazon which has the TV rights for the Lord of the Rings franchise, after doing a deal directly with the Tolkien estate in November 2017.
This deal consisted of $250 million for a five-season TV series, which laid the basis for The Rings of Power. Now that two of these five seasons have already been released on Prime Video, Amazon’s agreement lasts for three more seasons. After these seasons have been completed, the franchise’s TV rights are up for grabs once more.
Of course, in the process of producing The Rings of Power, Amazon went into partnership with New Line Cinema, which has played a fundamental role in making the TV show part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s wider multimedia franchise. New Line is the thread that binds the series to the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, not Amazon’s MGM Studios.
As essential as this partnership has been to The Rings of Power, it puts Amazon in a position of weakness when it comes to holding onto the TV rights for the franchise beyond its current deal. In fact, Netflix’s ownership of New Line Cinema could even place the last two seasons of The Rings of Power in jeopardy.
Netflix Taking Over Warner Bros. Would Mean Prime Video’s Biggest Rival Controlling The Lord Of The Rings
The Lord of the Rings would be a jewel in the crown of Netflix’s empire if it did acquire Warner Bros. studios, screen rights, and archives. Perhaps only Harry Potter and DC’s Extended Universe could rival the franchise as a cinematic asset, and neither of these creations are regarded with quite the same prestige in the fantasy genre.
Netflix has already streamed the Lord of the Rings trilogy in previous years, and will be champing at the bit to do so again, along with its own original extensions of the franchise in years to come. If its Warner Bros. takeover goes through, Amazon’s status as the small-screen home of the franchise would suddenly be under immediate threat.
Prime Video is the closest streaming competitor to Netflix globally, and the two platforms are presently vying for the top spot in the American market. Therefore, Amazon’s biggest TV rival could soon effectively control the entire Lord of the Rings screen franchise.
Yes, Prime Video would still have its five-season TV deal to fall back on, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power would continue to be produced. But Netflix could use their ownership of Warner Bros. to pull New Line Cinema out of the project, causing irreparable damage to the show’s final two seasons.
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- Movie(s)
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The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
- Created by
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J.R.R. Tolkien
- First Film
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The Lord of the Rings (1978)
- Cast
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Norman Bird, Anthony Daniels, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Morfydd Clark, Mike Wood, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lenny Henry, Brian Cox, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Bilal Hasna, Benjamin Wainwright, Luke Pasqualino, Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt
- TV Show(s)
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Character(s)
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Frodo Baggins, Gandalf, Legolas, Boromir, Sauron, Gollum, Samwise Gamgee, Pippin Took, Celeborn, Aragorn, Galadriel, Bilbo Baggins, Saruman, Aldor, Wormtongue, Thorin Oakenshield, Balin Dwalin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, Ori, Tauriel, King Thranduil, Smaug, Radagast, Arondir, Nori Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow, Marigold Brandyfoot, Queen Regent Míriel, Sadoc Burrows
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
