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[jason10mm]

Damn, it took it on the chin this weekend, less than $5 mill in the US, just a little more internationally. Though it supposedly only had a 30 mill budget, so I expect it will turn a profit eventually on streaming, VOD, and disc sales. I think they were really caught off guard with how low this went, I can see a limited theatrical run for the prestige but this was dropped into 2500 theaters which seems waaaaaay optimistic. I'm expecting it to hit streaming just after New Years.

Was it because it was animated? The focus on Hera? Lack of enthusiasm after Rings of Power? I gotta think if this film was dropped in 2005 right after ROTK it would have done half a billion at least.

Maybe it will have some legs through the holiday.

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

I am interested in seeing this on VOD. But, damn with that art style, this looks like what i envision a Fire Emblem movie to look like. Nintendo should take note.

 

[Warspite]

Damn, it took it on the chin this weekend, less than $5 mill in the US, just a little more internationally. Though it supposedly only had a 30 mill budget, so I expect it will turn a profit eventually on streaming, VOD, and disc sales. I think they were really caught off guard with how low this went, I can see a limited theatrical run for the prestige but this was dropped into 2500 theaters which seems waaaaaay optimistic. I'm expecting it to hit streaming just after New Years.

Was it because it was animated? The focus on Hera? Lack of enthusiasm after Rings of Power? I gotta think if this film was dropped in 2005 right after ROTK it would have done half a billion at least.

Maybe it will have some legs through the holiday.

I don't know how we would find this out but it would be interesting to see if Rings of Power had any impact on this, do people just associated any new Lord of the Rings production with Rings of Power, assume its the same people and assume it would be the same quality?

 

[jason10mm]

I don't know how we would find this out but it would be interesting to see if Rings of Power had any impact on this, do people just associated any new Lord of the Rings production with Rings of Power, assume its the same people and assume it would be the same quality?

I gotta think the seemingly tepid, at best, audience reception of RoP certainly didn't help WotR. LOTR enthusiasm, after a couple dud games, waning interest in the Hobbit films and RoP, is just ebbing away after the highs of the post-trilogy era. I still see lots of fancy book editions (and I still buy lots of fancy book editions and movie re-releases (which I also still buy) but all the mass market 'stuff' with LOTR (casual games, clothes, merch, etc) has really died down, as compared to something like Harry Potter which is still crushing it.

I think LOTR will always be a somewhat dense, hard to penetrate IP if done 'right', and when it is heavily diluted for easy access it becomes INCREDIBLY generic because it has been riffed on for so long.

 

[Saber]

Damn, it took it on the chin this weekend, less than $5 mill in the US, just a little more internationally. Though it supposedly only had a 30 mill budget, so I expect it will turn a profit eventually on streaming, VOD, and disc sales. I think they were really caught off guard with how low this went, I can see a limited theatrical run for the prestige but this was dropped into 2500 theaters which seems waaaaaay optimistic. I'm expecting it to hit streaming just after New Years.

Was it because it was animated? The focus on Hera? Lack of enthusiasm after Rings of Power? I gotta think if this film was dropped in 2005 right after ROTK it would have done half a billion at least.

Maybe it will have some legs through the holiday.

I think mostly because its "animefyied". Focus on Hera is a problem too imo, but for alot of reasons(including girlboss trope). Theres certain things that don't go well with anime. This one feels more like "hey just make this an anime looking and it sell among the weebs".
Whats next, doing an anime film version of Indiana Jones?
Also whats the point of focus on her? Is she that great that past unnoticed or is a syndrome of someone who read the books and felt offended? In any case they could have handled this waaaay better, you are absolutelly not gonna gain traction of casuals. The only ones who goes for this are LotR fans, so maybe doing something for them would be a start.

 

[jason10mm]

Whats next, doing an anime film version of Indiana Jones?

I personally would LOVE to see somehting like this. Playing The Great Circle just reminds me how awesome Joes CAN be when you lean into his character and tell a good mythic story.

Also whats the point of focus on her? Is she that great that past unnoticed or is a syndrome of someone who read the books and felt offended? In any case they could have handled this waaaay better, you are absolutelly not gonna gain traction of casuals. The only ones who goes for this are LotR fans, so maybe doing something for them would be a start.

I agree, the choice to focus on the unnamed daughter with no feats attributed to her have given the impression, supported by the film or not, that SHE is going all the fighting in the film. This would be very counter to how Tolkien typically uses female characters and it suggests that the male characters in the story are pushed to the side.

Now using Hera as the POV for the story would be one thing, she sees the men go off, hears their stories when they return, witnesses events from the walls, etc. I think that could work well. But making her such an active participant, indeed seems like she is the INSTIGATOR of the entire conflict (just judging from the trailer, I've not seen the film) has turned off a portion of the FANatic Tolkien core. There really isn't much of a girl audience for this stuff anyway and the anime art aesthetic (versus, I suppose, something that felt more like the Rankin stuff or at least a softer american hand drawn style) is just adding to the pain since few of those films do really well here in the US anyway. I wonder if this had more of a western look, like that Snyder Norse cartoon (or all the DC stuff that team has done (I think), or even Book of Kells if that would have helped. I don't think so though. The US still sees cartoons as kids stuff and LOTR probably has almost no penetration with a young demographic.

 

[VulcanRaven]

I think mostly because its "animefyied". Focus on Hera is a problem too imo, but for alot of reasons(including girlboss trope). Theres certain things that don't go well with anime. This one feels more like "hey just make this an anime looking and it sell among the weebs".
Whats next, doing an anime film version of Indiana Jones?
Also whats the point of focus on her? Is she that great that past unnoticed or is a syndrome of someone who read the books and felt offended? In any case they could have handled this waaaay better, you are absolutelly not gonna gain traction of casuals. The only ones who goes for this are LotR fans, so maybe doing something for them would be a start.

The Hobbit (1977) and Return of the King (1980) are anime so it has been done before.

I hope we get some animated version of Indiana Jones.

 

[Saber]

The Hobbit (1977) and Return of the King (1980) are anime so it has been done before.

Doesn't make this one better if thats your argument. Also anime =/= animation

 

[jason10mm]

The Hobbit (1977) and Return of the King (1980) are anime so it has been done before.

Those were "animated", but not an "anime" art style. I'm just grateful Hera is a classic good-looking young lass and not some sort of danger haired waddler that makes her horse nervous whenever she approaches with a saddle.

I hope we get some animated version of Indiana Jones.

Hear hear! How they have not just taken the better comic/game stories and put them to animation is beyond me. And now we have Troy who can deliver a SPOT-ON HF impersonation, down to the slightest vocal nuance,,,,,there really is no reason not to be doing this.

 

[Saber]

Those were "animated", but not an "anime" art style. I'm just grateful Hera is a classic good-looking young lass and not some sort of danger haired waddler that makes her horse nervous whenever she approaches with a saddle.

Me too but at same time is like... should we even be thankfull they didn't transform her into a hulk monster acting like man? Kinda depressing when I think about it.

 

[VulcanRaven]

Those were "animated", but not an "anime" art style. I'm just grateful Hera is a classic good-looking young lass and not some sort of danger haired waddler that makes her horse nervous whenever she approaches with a saddle.

The studio Topcraft that made them later became Studio Ghibli so I would count them as anime.

 

[The_hunter]

Watched today at the theater and enjoyed it. Not sure if I liked anime look, but the story was very much similar as other Hobbit/LOTR battles. Some parts looked like rotoscoped and well animated - while some were not.

King being the One Punch Man/Raou kinda made me chuckle. (Hey, I only hit him once!) lol…

I read in an interview a while back, that they were planning to rotoscope 3d models for the horses.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Those were "animated", but not an "anime" art style. I'm just grateful Hera is a classic good-looking young lass and not some sort of danger haired waddler that makes her horse nervous whenever she approaches with a saddle.

Anime style is subjective. They were animated by Topcraft, which went on to become Studio Ghibli. They're just as much anime movies as this.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie Delivers Harsh Truth After Dismal Box Office Performance

There is a lesson to be learned from all of this…but it probably won’t be.

movieweb.com

Welp.

I'm still not sure why this even had a theatrical exhibition when it originally should have went straight to streaming

 

[EviLore]

Withdrawing my "I'm in."

 

[lachesis]

I read in an interview a while back, that they were planning to rotoscope 3d models for the horses.

Yeah - and some of the action scenes (humans too) looked rotoscoped. Some parts, almost reminded me the old LOTR animated series for some reason as well.

 

[VulcanRaven]

Yeah - and some of the action scenes (humans too) looked rotoscoped. Some parts, almost reminded me the old LOTR animated series for some reason as well.

Do you mean this movie?

 

[Hari Seldon]

New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie Delivers Harsh Truth After Dismal Box Office Performance

There is a lesson to be learned from all of this…but it probably won’t be.

movieweb.com

Welp.

I'm still not sure why this even had a theatrical exhibition when it originally should have went straight to streaming

I read that they needed to release something to retain IP rights or someshit, but that may just be an internet rumor.
Edit:
Lol it says so right in that article:

When the film was announced, the $30 million budgeted anime offering was put into production to ensure that Warner Bros. Discovery did not lose the rights to the Tolkien IP.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Withdrawing my "I'm in."

For what it's worth, even though it's made to retain the IP rights, I still thought it was very good. Yes, Hera is a made up character, but they did a great job of building off of the brief section from Appendix A. It very much felt true to tone of that material and the Peter Jackson movies. It was the best LotR material I've seen since RotK. Better than the hobbit movies (unedited). Definitely better than RoP

It's very solid, and Helm is dope AF

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I read that they needed to release something to retain IP rights or someshit, but that may just be an internet rumor.
Edit:
Lol it says so right in that article:

I read the article and it doesn't specifically state that it had to be in theaters to count which is why I posted about just going to streaming

 

[Warspite]

I read the article and it doesn't specifically state that it had to be in theaters to count which is why I posted about just going to streaming

There might be something in the contract saying there needs to be a "theater release" otherwise New Line could sit on the rights and release a low budget direct to DVD type movie.

I wonder if it's got something to do with payments to the Tolkien estate, meaning that some extremely low effort affair wouldn't cover it.

 

[jason10mm]

Anime style is subjective. They were animated by Topcraft, which went on to become Studio Ghibli. They're just as much anime movies as this.

I wouldn't call Ghibli stuff "anime style" either. Just because it's made in Japan doesn't automatically mean it is "anime" for me. Ghibli stuff often has a softness and naturalistic aesthetic (even when showing surreal things) i associate more with a western aesthetic though I realize that's mostly just me

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

Actually some people bring up a great point, about Hobbit, and RoP being bad or mediocre. I wouldn’t mind it they made a Hobbit animated movie and did it right this time. No more trilogies.

They could attempt to right the wrongs of the Hobbit trilogy.

 

[Musashipan]

At theaters now
There's a whooping 4 people in total
That's kinda sad tho :/

 

[Saber]

At theaters now
There's a whooping 4 people in total
That's kinda sad tho :/

The only reason I even get any modicrum of interest is because is LotR. They won't gonna score the audience with an absurdly predictable plot about a nobody kicking ass and being awesome.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Nobody is going to care for a LOTR anime cartoon.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

The only reason I even get any modicrum of interest is because is LotR. They won't gonna score the audience with an absurdly predictable plot about a nobody kicking ass and being awesome.

Eh, its mostly about Helm kicking ass as seen through her eyes. She doesnt really step up until the end. And even then its mostly to get her cousin to come rescue

 

[Fake]

So, consumers are getting tired of girlboss or this movie is bad?

 

[Musashipan]

I'd give it a solid 9.I like the animation, but it looks like it's running on low framerate lol.
Helm is badass, not Hera. It's quite accurate with the lore, except the who kills the bad guy.
I enjoyed it and got a bucket!

 

[kunonabi]

Nobody is going to care for a LOTR anime cartoon.

I was interested until I saw it motion. Just hideous.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I read that they needed to release something to retain IP rights or someshit, but that may just be an internet rumor.

I'm sure a possible extension till other projects would have run them less than 30 million, but maybe the estate is super greedy and they have a lot of lazy bums to leech of Tolkien at this point.

 

[ManaByte]

I'm sure a possible extension till other projects would have run them less than 30 million, but maybe the estate is super greedy and they have a lot of lazy bums to leech of Tolkien at this point.

It's not the estate they have to worry about. The movie rights are licensed through Sal Zaentz's company and its his heirs who were going to take the rights back from WB unless they produced something.

They did this anime because they could get it done quick, but then Jackson and Andy Serkis are making the two live-action Hunt for Gollum movies.

 

[VulcanRaven]

So, consumers are getting tired of girlboss or this movie is bad?

Rotten Tomatoes critic score is 50% but the audience score is 84% so many seem to like it.

 

[Fake]

Rotten Tomatoes critic score is 50% but the audience score is 84% so many seem to like it.

Kraven audience score is 70%.

 

[ManaByte]

Kraven audience score is 70%.

The people in this thread who actually saw the movie say there’s no “girl boss” trope. That’s coming from YouTubers who are pretending to have seen the movie to make an outrage farming review.

 

[scoobidoo112]

Honestly, I thought it was just "okay".

Overall the atmosphere, visuals and soundtrack are pretty damn solid, although there are a few scenes where budget- and time restrictions become quite apparent.
For example, there are moments where characters in the distant background look like silly-looking blobs, akin to early Dragon Ball Super, although it's rarely that bad.

On the other hand there are plenty of other moments that looks really good, so it kind of balances each other out. For example, the scenes that take place during winter looked really good to me.
All throughout the story you get to see many aspects of Middle Earth (locations, characters, creatures) and if you're a fan, I think you'll enjoy that aspect of the movie at the very least.

The voice acting is pretty good as well, with Héra, Éowyn and Helm being the standout performances, and the action scenes are a lot of fun (and in some cases quite violent for a PG13 movie).

Having said all that, what really brings down this movie a lot is the story and its characters.

To be frank, none of it makes any sense, as characters say and do incredibly stupid things in order to make the story happen, and the whole thing just feels incredibly bland and cliche.
You can see every twist, turn, sacrifice and monologue coming from a mile away, and all throughout the movie various plot holes are staring you right in the face, to the point where I was literally rolling my eyes at how dumb and predictable it all was.

Wulf, the villain of the story, has the depth of a piece of cardboard, and can genuinely be summed up as an incel (he's mad that Héra refuses to marry him), and Héra, even though I wouldn't say she's portrayed as a 'girl-boss' per se (she has flaws, she faces losses, and she as least looks like a woman, which is nice) just isn't interesting enough as a character to carry the entire movie.

At the end of the day, I walked out of the theater thinking, 'meh'.

It's not outright bad, but unless you're really craving more LOTR, I think you can safely skip this one.

 

[Fake]

Consumers normally expect a jaw drop over those judgernaut franchises.

And mouth to mouth marketing is still a strong way of making something popular.

I saw in some news here in Brazil that in conjuction with this animed series, they also put back the triology in the cinema, so they had zero confident from the start.

 

[Ulysses 31]

 

[TheChumpNation]

I love LOTR, but the odds of me going to a movie theatre for an animated movie are very, very low.

I'd watch this on a streaming service, or happily pay $15 for a Blu-Ray copy myself, but I'm not going to a theatre for it when I haven't been to one overall since the most recent Planet of the Apes.

 

[Hookshot]

Genuinely never saw this advertised anywhere.

 

[jason10mm]

Streaming on the 27th. Probably a $20 rent unless it's included in a Max sub.

MSN

 

[near]

Streaming on the 27th. Probably a $20 rent unless it's included in a Max sub.

MSN

Ouch. Streaming it is then.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I love LOTR, but the odds of me going to a movie theatre for an animated movie are very, very low.

I'd watch this on a streaming service, or happily pay $15 for a Blu-Ray copy myself, but I'm not going to a theatre for it when I haven't been to one overall since the most recent Planet of the Apes.

To me, this kind of film is pointless in the theatre. But if it makes them some money before it goes to streaming/DVD sales go for it. The movie is at $15M global sales. Maybe it hits $20M. They'll get half so that's $10M pocketed as it had probably zero marketing costs worth mentioning.

Animated films in theatres skew to fun family flicks. Not something like LOTR or Castlevania or Animatrix etc... Its rare for more serious animated movies to hit theatres. And even more rare if any have made good money no matter what the franchise IP is. It's just one of those things where if a cartoon is coming out, families can be amped up to watch Shrek or Sonic in theatres. But if it's something more serious, they'd rather watch it at home on NF.

Myself included. I bought 1 or 2 of those weird Batman off shoot cartoons. I'll go see Batman in the theatres. But I'd never pay money to watch a Batman cartoon buying a ticket.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Animation looked decent but outside of SAC I don't think Kenji Kamiyama has got much worthy of praise to his name.

 

[Doom85]

Animation looked decent but outside of SAC I don't think Kenji Kamiyama has got much worthy of praise to his name.

Eden of the East and Moribito are great, so agree to disagree.

 

[Neolombax]

Will probably watch it when it comes on streaming platforms, I have an issue with the animation. They don't look like animation made for the big screen. I think the Demon Slayer series had better animation than this.

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

I wish they would get all this correct. If they want an animated Hobbit to correct the trilogy, that makes sense.

It would also make sense to me, that if they want to create a live action or animated Shadow of Mordor movie. Or even two part movie. Just don’t make everything a trilogy. It makes everything bloated and unnecessary.

 

[ManaByte]

Watched this yesterday. Loved it. Helm was awesome. Great companion to The Two Towers.

 

[Oberstein]

Forgettable at best.

The character of Hera has virtually no discernible personality, it's just an uninteresting filler. Harmless and silly.

The animation is really poor and bringing it to the cinema is a very bad idea. And to think that this film has been announced for so long... Another thing that annoyed me: the armors. They look like bad Fire Emblem chara-design. It stands out so much that it shocked me throughout the film. Replace this crap with chain mail, real pieces of equipment a tad more European medieval, and it would have been a thousand times better.

Of course, there are some inconsistencies in the script (which was written on the corner of a restaurant table, by the way), especially with the character of Hera, who is told in the prologue that she's not in the history books... and the explanation given at the end is ridiculous. Given what she's done, she clearly should have been added. As for the succession system, it makes no sense.

Helm should have been the main character and Hera a supporting one, but the film loses interest very quickly.

 

[ManaByte]

As for the succession system, it makes no sense.

I re-read the Appendices last night, that's directly from Tolkien's writings.

It's in the line of kings: 2759 Helm, Haleth, Hama die; Frealaf becomes king following the invasion and Long Winter.

It follows that portion of the appendices pretty closely.