The movie and gaming rights for The Lord of the Rings are for sale, and are predicted to make $2 billion! Get the full details here.

On Wednesday (9th Feb), Variety reported that the rights to The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) and The Hobbit will be going up for auction. Saul Zaentz Co. has decided to part ways with the movie and gaming rights to these titles, among other Tolkien creations.

Saul Zaentz was a film and music entrepreneur who died in 2017. He acquired film adaptation and other rights to some Tolkien titles in 1976. Zaentz was the long-time leader of Fantasy Records, which was an influential jazz and rock label in the 50s-70s. He went onto to produce films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The English Patient.

If you’re a fan of reboots and reimaginings, you’re in luck. This move will see Hollywood scramble to get its hands on this fantasy goldmine. Coming at a time when Amazon is working on its TV series version of LOTR, Saul Zaentz Co. have clearly struck while the iron is hot. The series, The Rings of Power is set to air on the 2nd of September, so it will be interesting to see whether Amazon fancies the rights to a Middle Earth-based game too.

With The Lord of the Rings for sale, it’s expected a few high profile production companies will be eager to snap up the rights. Based on a recent valuation for high-end intellectual property (IP) and content producers, the auction could exceed $2bn. Though, it is highly expected Amazon will be swooping in.

The rights around LOTR are a bit muddied. Warner Bros will still retain some film developmental rights, due to its owning New Line Cinema. This is the production company responsible for Peter Jackson’s much-loved film trilogies of LOTR and The Hobbit.

Daedalic Entertainment is currently working on Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a computer game focussing on Gollum’s escape from Barad Dur. This is in partnership with Middle-Earth Enterprises, the rights holding company owned by Saul Zaentz Co.