The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2022–2024
The War of the Rohirrim: a $30M Rings anime that grossed $20.7M
Warner Bros.' $30M Lord of the Rings anime opened to $4.6M, grossed $20.7M worldwide, and hit digital 14 days after release.
Warner Bros. Pictures · New Line Cinema · 2024-12-13
What happened
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an anime prequel produced by Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, was budgeted at $30 million. It was released in the United States and Canada on December 13, 2024.
The film opened to just $4.6 million in fifth place, well below the projected $6–7 million, and finished its run with only $20.7 million worldwide — $9.2 million in North America and $11.5 million overseas.
Because of the low box office performance, Warner Bros. rushed the film to digital release just 14 days after its theatrical debut. The $20.7 million gross against a $30 million budget made it one of the biggest box office bombs of 2024, and the studio shelved the planned anime-television spinoff.
Why it happened
- Warner Bros. bet $30M that the Lord of the Rings name would carry an anime feature into a crowded December frame, but the theatrically released animation had no established audience.
- The film opened fifth with $4.6M, far below projections, and never recovered, ending at just $20.7M worldwide.
- Against the $30M budget, the $20.7M gross was a heavy loss, and the studio's fast 14-day digital release confirmed it had written the film off.
The lesson
A beloved world is not a genre: Warner Bros. spent $30M assuming the Rings name would carry an anime film, and it grossed $20.7M — the audience follows the story, not the format.
Sources
- Wikipedia — The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
- The Numbers — The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (worldwide $20,758,572; budget $30,000,000)
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