Company That Owns ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ Embracer, Reports a 10% Drop in Entertainment Sales, Pointing to ‘Lower Activity’ with the Tolkien Property as the Cause
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In its entertainment and services section, which includes comic book publisher Dark Horse Media, Embracer reported a 14% drop in organic growth. This decline was due to “lower activity and tough comparisons to last year” within its Middle-earth Enterprises branch, which holds the “Lord of the Rings” rights.
Middle-earth Enterprises had a “slow quarter” compared to last year, mainly due to a lack of new game releases. However, it did generate “higher film revenue than expected,” according to the company.
The PC/Console game “The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria” launched on Steam and Xbox earlier this summer and “performed slightly above management expectations.” Another release, “Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed,” saw “slower than expected” early digital sales, Embracer said.
Looking ahead, the company is optimistic about the upcoming anime “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim,” set to release in the U.S. and internationally next month. Embracer’s CEO Wingefors anticipates “significant earnings growth year on year” from the film and noted “growing excitement” among fans for its release.
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” is directed by Kenji Kamiyama from a screenplay by Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews and Phoebe Gittins & Arty Papageorgiou, based on characters created by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Produced by New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation, and Sola Entertainment in association with WingNut Films, it stars Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, and Miranda Otto.
The War of the Rohirrim is set 183 years before Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and tells the story of Helm Hammerhand (Cox), a legendary king of Rohan, and his family as they defend their kingdom against an army of Dunlendings.
So far in Q3, games like “LEGO® Monkey Palace” and “The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth” have been released, both showing solid progress according to Embracer.
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