The world's eyes might predominately be on The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power (including our own current issue), but there is more Tolkien storytelling on the way to cinemas via Warner Bros. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. And now we know who will be lending their voices, as Miranda Otto returns to play Éowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan alongside the likes of Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Lorraine Ashbourne, Yazdan Qafouri, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike, Bilal Hasna and Janine Duvitski.
Anime veteran Kenji Kamiyama is on board to direct, working from a script currently credited to Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou. The story is set 183 years before the events chronicled in Peter Jackson's trilogy of films. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg – a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Hera, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.
Cox is Helm Hammerhand, the mighty King of Rohan, while Wise will play Hammerhand’s daughter Hera and Pasqualino will portray Wulf. Otto's Éowyn, meanwhile, will narrate the story.
While Jackson is not involved here, there is a link with his LOTR world thanks to Philippa Boyens, who is a producer and consultant. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on 12 April, 2024.