Saul Zaentz, the parent company of Middle-earth Enterprises, is looking to sell the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies and video games for $2 billion.
Under the banner of Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly Tolkien Enterprises, the late Saul Zanz’s company owns the worldwide rights (films, video games, merchandise, live performances, or even theme parks) to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but also The Silmarillion as well “Unfinished Tales and Legends”for more than forty years. As streaming platforms look to get the best content to retain their subscribers, Saul Zaentz has instructed ACF Investment Bank to sell all assets later this week. These are expected to reach at least $2 billion based on recent estimates from leading IP and content producers.
Amazon, Apple, Sony, Netflix or even Disney are at the top of the list of preferred candidates for the rights to use the works of JRR Tolkien. If Warner Bros. Pictures is confident they can retain some rights to develop The Lord of the Rings through their stake in New Line Cinema, so Warner Bros. Animation is producing an animated feature film titled The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim. films were brought back last year, in part because Warner Bros. did not actively develop new content related to LOTR. This situation made parent company Middle-earth Enterprises realize it was time to make a sale.
Strained relationship between The Saul Zaentz Company and Warner Bros.
Saul Zaentz and Warner Bros are still arguing over who controls what when it comes to the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, a source of years of controversy. In the early 2000s, Saul Zanz’s company sued Warner Bros and New Line Cinema over their share of the profits from the Peter Jackson/Tolkien estate LOTR film trilogy and publisher HarperCollins. Films “Rings”and “The Hobbit”.