Middle-earth Enterprises, the holder of the film, stage, gaming and other merchandising rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, is to be acquired by the Embracer Group’s Freemode subsidiary.
The deal also includes matching rights in other Middle-earth-related literary works authorized by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins, which have yet to be explored.
Middle-earth Enterprises is being bought from The Saul Zaentz Company which has produced and licensed output based on the books for more than forty-five years, including New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson’s film trilogies, plus a variety of video games, board games, stage productions and merchandise.
The company acquired the rights from the heirs and estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and HarperCollins Publishers, who maintain the print publication rights to Tolkien’s literary works.
It also has financial interests in Amazon’s forthcoming The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power series and the animated Warner Bros movie The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim which is set for release in 2024.
Embracer is already one of the most successful licensees of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, having published over a dozen games since the release of The Lord of the Rings board game over 20 years ago, including classics such as The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth.
Lars Wingefors, Founder and Group CEO Embracer Group, said: “I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group.
“I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio.”
Marty Glick, COO of The Saul Zaentz Company, said: “We at the Zaentz Company have had the honor over the past half century of stewarding the Tolkien rights so that Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fans worldwide could enjoy award winning epic films, challenging video games, first rate theatre and merchandise of every variety.
“We could not be more thrilled that it is Embracer now taking up the responsibility and we are confident their group will take it to new heights and dimensions while maintaining homage to the spirit of these great literary works.”