WB exec here! Would love to pick your brains about our upcoming Cinematic Universe!

So WB acquired the rights to Lords of the Rings. Like you, I LOVED those movies growing up. And I really like what Disney’s been up to with those Marvel films. So next week I’m pitching my idea for a Middle-Earth Cinematic Universe. I’d love some feedback from you guys!

Phase 1 is all about building this world. I thought about starting with the Silmarlin, but it’s better to get right into what makes this world tick. Lords of the Rings is all about characters. So we’re starting off where it all began: the Hobbit.

• The Brown Wizard - To start this off, we expand on the beloved vibe of the old Hobbit movies. An adventure movie about Gandalf and Radagast the Brown dealing with a Necromancer… it’s secretly Sauron.
• Oakenshield - A miniseries, or rather LIMITED series, about Thorin’s travels. Escaping Smaug, gathering the dwarves, fighting the Pale Orc. Ends with Gandalf offering him an adventure, an initiative.
• My Precious - A film about the origins of Gollum. And a mysterious ring shows up for the first time ;)
• The Shire: season 1 - A fun sitcom about Bilbo and his sister dealing with simple shire problems, with the Sackville Baginses as antagonists. Maybe a Tom Bombadil cameo and stuff. Put in a Gandalf episode. Ends with Gandalf offering an adventure, an initiative. Final episode is the dwarves recruiting Bilbo and him leaving. Alternative title: The Baginses of Bag End, but Shire is better for marketing purposes.
• Bard - A Winter Soldier like film about Bard fighting corruption in Laketown and dealing with his family’s legacy.
• The Hobbit - A miniseries/LIMITED series. Ends with Smaug being killed.
• Oakenshield: Dragon Sickness - An epic film detailing the legendary Battle of the five armies. A crossover with characters from Bard, the Hobbit, Oakenshield and the Brown Wizard. It all ends here. As far as phase 1 goes.

Phase 2 is all about the fallout of the Battle of the Five Armies and Sauron being hot on the trail of the Ring. We meet a lot of new fan favorite characters here.

• Ringwraith - A story for one of the main villains of the franchise: the Witch-King of Angmar. A chronicle of Sauron’s return to power and first foray into Gondor.
• Oakenshield: Speak Friend - A last hurrah for Balin and a selection of the most popular dwarves from The Oakenshield series and The Hobbit. A dark story about greed, and delving too deep…
• Captain of Gondor - An action epic about Faramir and Boromir fighting Sauron’s army.
• ⁠The Shire: season 2 - A sitcom about Bilbo’s boring life after his adventure, struggling to balance his wacky rivalry with the Sackville Baginses and taking care of his nephew, Frodo, and his friends. It ends with Bilbo leaving the Shire, and leaving Frodo the ring.
• Ringwraith: the Nine - Sauron sends his Nine Black Riders out to find the Ring. This film details their terrible journey to Bree, and features Gandalf as the antagonist while he is searching for info on the Ring.
• The Hobbit: There - A send-off for Bilbo, making one last journey to Rivendell. We focus on the beautiful aspects of Middle-Earth. All those songs from the book have a place here! A last hurrah for the Hobbit that started it all.
• The Hobbits - An adventure movie focusing on the 4 hobbits, after being taxed by Gandalf to bring the ring to Rivendell. Sort of a crossover of the Shire and Ringwraith. Climaxing at Rivendell, after Weathertop.

Phase 3 is shorter, but way more epic. Why? Because we have our first team-up movie. Now, for branding purposes, we’re not really gonna be splitting the team-up movies by their traditional titles. All team-up movies will be branded as ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ going forward.

• Strider: season 1 - We met the mysterious Aragorn in The Hobbits. Now we find out how it all started in his own origin series. Including the illustrious Arwen.
• ⁠The Grey Wizard - A sequel to the Brown Wizard. Tells Gandalf’s story after the events of Ringwraith: the Nine and during the events of The Hobbits, especially his confrontation with Saruman the White, who will become a mainstay.
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Book One: He Who Bears It - Everything from the Council of Elrond to the Gandalf dying in Moria.
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Book Two: Bound in Darkness - Everything from the Elves to Boromir dying. But expanded upon. I’m thinking Galadriel’s cauldron gets an extended dream sequence.

Phase 4 is where we really branch out, as all our characters are split up. The Two Towers is completely deconstructed, as there is no team up. But we complement this by adding new content.

• No Place for Hobbits - Look at this as sort of a more serious, slower spin-off from The Hobbits. Merry and Pippin are taken captive by Uruk Hai. But they bond with a normal orc. A ponderous film about Stockholm syndrome. Ends with the raid by the Rohirrim. They escape, which drives the friendly orc insane with regret. Tearfully they end up killing the orc that chases them into Fangorn. They meet the Old Tree. Gandalf returns in a post-credits scene.
• Riders of Rohan: season 1 - A dark fantasy, Game of Thrones like, political show about the politics struggle between Wormtongue and Eomer, Theodred’s death, etc. Ends with Eomer’s exile.
• ⁠The White Wizard - How did Gandalf survive Moria? This is a John Wick style Gandalf action movie detailing his battle with the Balrog from the deepest cavern to the highest peak (I have never seen John Wick but I assume it's like the Raid, which I have also not seen).
• Our ⁠Precious - A sequel miniseries, sorry, LIMITED series to My Precious. We finally see what happened to Gollum after Bilbo took his ring.
• Ranger of Gondor - a sequel to Captain of Gondor about Faramir after Boromir left, waging guerilla warfare, dealing with Boromir’s death. It ends right before meeting Frodo.
• ⁠The Hobbits 2: Ringbearer - Frodo and Sam meet Gollum, go through those swamps, meet Faramir, do the Osgiliath stuff. Basically a remake of the Two Towers but we pad it a bit. We also move the Black Gate stuff to the next Hobbits film.
• Strider: season 2 - The hunt for Merry and Pippin. There’s a crossover episode with Riders of Rohan, after their exile. We meet up with Gandalf again. There’s some Legolas and Gimli origin episodes intermixed. We end at Edoras, where the foul Wormtongue gets his comeuppance and the fair Eowyn meets Aragorn.

Phase 5 is all about the industrialised war machine of Isengard vs. the farmers of Rohan. It’s about war, and how it changes people. We don’t get another team-up, but we do get awesome crossovers.

• ⁠The Two Towers - NOT an adaptation of the second old film. This is a humanising portrait of Saruman and Wormtongue and their codependent toxicity. How Wormtongue’s corruption by Saruman mirrors Saruman’s by Sauron. And how the industrialisation of Isengard kills Fangorn. A critique of capitalism. Ends with Saruman’s army setting of towards Helm’s Deep. Setting the stakes for this phase.
• Riders of Rohan: season 2 - The adventures of Eomer in exile. The first half focuses on struggling with PTSD after being told he killed Merry and Pippin. The second half is about coming together with Gandalf to ride for Helm’s Deep.
• The Call of Valinor - A pensive portrait of the Elves leaving Middle-Earth, and a daughter growing apart from her father. A political thriller where Arwen and that guy from the books who saves Frodo from Weathertop recruit all the different elves to fight at Helm’s Deep.
• The Hobbits 3: the Black Gate - Finding they cannot pass the Black gate, the trio de used to go by Minas Morgul. They face Shelob. Ends with Frodo seemingly dying and Sam picking up the ring.
• Strider: season 3 - We start departing from Edoras to Helm’s Deep. When Aragorn is split from his friends, there’s some separate storylines. Aragorn in one, making his way back, Eowyn, Legolas and Gimli in the other. We climax at Helm’s Deep, with a Riders of Rohan crossover.
• No Place for Hobbits 2: the Last March of the Ents - Another pretty slow film tbh. But essential for the greater universe and wrapping up the Isengard storyline. We do the Entmoot, but actually zoom in on the debate. Think Twelve Angry Men in Middle-Earth. After the sacking of Isengard, Saruman escapes in a post-credits scene.

Phase 6 is where it all ends. It all comes together again.

• The Call of Valinor: [NAME OF ARAGORN’S SWORD] - This film is about the last of the elves leaving and Arwen deciding to stay. It’s also about her convincing Elrond to reforge that sword (forgot the name), setting the stage for the Return of the King.
• The Hobbits 4: The Fires of Mount Doom - Frodo is caught up in a civil war between orcs and Uruk Hai. Meanwhile Sam looks for him while evading Gollum. Ends when Frodo and Sam reconcile. They see the armies of Mordor moving, setting the stage for the Return of the King.
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Book Three: Under the Eye - BIG crossover between Strider, Riders of Rohan, the White Wizard, No Place for Hobbits and the Call of Valinor. Boring ass movie, let’s be honest. Nothing happens. Ends when Gandalf and Pippin leave, Aragorn gets the sword and leaves too, setting the stage for the Return of the King.
• Ringwraith: Age of the Orc - A film about the Witch-King dealing with the political struggle within Mordor. It shows the rise of that potato looking orc general from a lowly orc maggot to the primary Orc supremacist and the Witch-King being shoved aside after his failure to capture the ring. It also deals with the politics between the Mouth of Sauron and the Witch-King, setting the stage for the Return of the King.
• Riders of Rohan: season 3 - The mending of Eomer and Theoden’s bond, Eowyn is sad about Aragorn leaving so takes Merry under her wing. A bit of filler. Maybe a redemption story for Wormtongue. Setting the stage for Return of the King.
• Son of Gondor - Sequel film to Ranger of Gondor. Faramir’s return to Gondor and the beginning of Mordor’s invasion. We really explore his relationship with Denethor. Crossover with the White Wizard and Pippin from No Place for Hobbits when they save him from Osgiliath. Pippin enters Denethor’s service and sings that song again, really expanding on that classic cherry tomato devouring scene. Ends with Faramir’s supposed death, and the siege of Minas Tirith beginning, setting the stage for Return of the King.
• Strider: season 4 - Aragorn and co. adventures dealing with the Army of the Dead and those pirates. Maybe also something with the Oliphaunts. Arwen joins the gang this season, and we show Aragorn struggling with accepting the King sword thing, setting the stage for Return of the King.
• Fellowship of the Ring: Book Four: The Age of Man - BIG ASS crossover between the Hobbits, Strider, Riders of Rohan, Son of Gondor, the White Wizard, No Place for Hobbits, Our Precious and Ringwraith. Basically the Battle of Pelenor Fields and Frodo and Sam going through Mordor, involving them with the Mouth of Sauron and showing how he captured the Mithril vest. There’s a homage to Where There’s a Whip, There’s a Way, setting the stage for Return of the King.
• Fellowship of the Ring: Book Five: ⁠Return of the King - Where it all lead to. BIG BIG ASS crossover between all of the products/works again. Obviously we adapt the theoretical assault on Minas Morgul as well. Ends when the Fellowship reunites. It all ends here, setting the stage for the actual Return of the King.

Phase 7 is a really deep look into what it means to “win”, and how war changes people.

• Strider: season 5 - This is what it’s been all about. The RETURN of the King. Big crossover with Call of Valinor, Riders of Rohan and Son of Gondor. Aragorn is crowned, we detail his first years in power and his political difficulties with Rohan, orc refugees, the remains of Isengard’s industry and Arwen missing the elves. Also has Faramir and Eowyn falling in love, and Eowyn manipulating him to challenge Aragorn for the crown. A story of betrayal.
• The Hobbits 5: the Scouring of the Shire - Saruman is back. We also see the return of the fan favourites Bilbo and the Sackville Baginses. Rosie is the love interest and plays a pivotal role.
• The Blue Wizards - A Logan style send-off for Gandalf, searching for the mysterious blue wizards and making them pay for not helping during the war of the ring.
• Legolas and Gimli - A show with some light hearted adventures between these two fan favourites. Meant to set up some content for the next phases.
• The Hobbit: Back Again - A legacy sequel to the original miniseries ‘the Hobbit’. While its spin-off ‘the Hobbit: There’ was all about Bilbo travelling from the Shire to Rivendell, this one’s all about him travelling back to the Shire from Rivendell. It’s a last hurrah for the Hobbit that started it all.
• The Shire: season 3 - The sitcom that started it all returns. Old Bilbo returns to the Shire, and we detail the Hobbits struggling to adapt to normal life, while Sam and Rosie start a family and Frodo writes his memoirs. It's wacky, it's fun. It's classic Lords of the Rings.
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Book Six: the White Shores - Everyone meets to say goodbye in this epic and emotional climax to the beloved series. It’s mostly a clip show of the films and shows that came before. The cinematic universe has lasted 25 years, with 47 entries. In a post-credits scene, a reboot is announced. By then I might've finished Silmarlino.