New 'Lord of the Rings' Embracer Owner Gives First Hint at What's to Come During Q2 Preview

Embracer Group, the new owners of Middle Earth Enterprises - the holding company that owns the "Lord of the Rings” among other J.R.R. Tolkien titles – gave the first hint of what they might have foreseen for the author's work during a presentation for their second quarter earnings report on Thursday.

Among the rights that Sweden-based group Embracer now owns in the IP "The Lord of the Rings,” after Middle Earth Enterprises was purchased for an undisclosed sum from former owner Saul Zaentz Co. in October, are the rights to develop and make movies, games and theme park attractions.

Although Embracer co-founder and CEO Lars Wingefors doesn't fit into the details, he revealed he had been consulting with "all stakeholders" - including film companies and business partners - on how best to develop what he described as a "fantastic, world-leading IP ".

Wingefors did not specify whether these stakeholders included Warner Bros. Discovery, which reportedly still retains certain film development rights to "Lord of the Rings" through their ownership of New Line Cinema, which produced Peter Jackson's film trilogy (pictured above). It is unclear how these were affected by the sale of Middle Earth Enterprises.

Embracer is primarily known for its gaming output: video and mobile games in the digital sphere and board games and card games in physics.

Speaking more generally about the group's move into film and television, Wingefors said that he had spoken to "the top players in the industry" and was delighted to see "the enthusiasm they have around our IPs", which along with "Lord of the Rings" also includes "Tomb Raider " and "The Mask", among hundreds of other titles.

Co-founder and CEO of Embracer, Lars Wingefors (courtesy of Embracer Group)

But when asked for further news on Tolkien's acquisition he replied cryptically: "Wow, that's a very interesting question. Tolkien. We could spend an hour on it.

"Obviously we closed the transaction after the end of the quarter in early October and are now discussing with all stakeholders, film companies, business partners, game companies,” Wingefors explained. "We take a perspective [of] a very long-term view: how should we, together with other stakeholders, develop this world-leading fantastic IP? Gaming is one of them. But it's too early to give some color to our specific plans. I think we're always open-minded to […] participate in that. I think [there are] some very interesting conversations around other media as well than gaming ...