On LEGO Lord of the Rings

Today, I frightened my cubicle neighbor.

I’d come into the office, and I walked into the middle of a conversation he was having with another writer in the Bullpen. “I bet,” said my cubicle neighbor, “that you can’t jump up and down for joy.”

So without taking off my coat, without unslinging the BPRD bag I carry my notebooks in, I began jumping up and joy with joy. “LEGO Lord of the Rings!” I cried. “They announced it today! LEGO Lord of the Rings!”

To say that my cubicle neighbor was shocked was an understatement. Jumping up and down for joy was totally worth it, if only for that.

Yes, LEGO is making Lord of the Rings sets. Yes, they’re coming out this summer. Yes, I’m going to start socking away money from now until June to collect them all. 🙂

Here’s the official press release:

BILLUND, Denmark and BURBANK, Calif., Dec. 16, 2011 — Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on The Lord of the Rings™ trilogy and the two films based on The Hobbit™.  The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for The Lord of the Rings property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  LEGO® The Lord of the Rings construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey scheduled for later in the year.

“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of The Lord of the Rings and the two films based on The Hobbit,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.” 

The LEGO The Lord of the Rings collection will translate into LEGO form the epic locations, scenes and characters of Middle-earth as depicted in all three films, including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In late 2012, LEGO The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will give fans of all ages a chance to build and play out the fantastical story and new characters of the legendary Middle-earth adventures depicted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, slated to premiere December 14, 2012.

“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO HARRY POTTER and LEGO BATMAN, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group. “It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the two films based on The Hobbit, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”

Information about the sets and collectible minifigures from both collections will be unveiled at a later date at TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com.

About The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again
From Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of two films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit.  The second film will be The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012.  The second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins.  Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum.  The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.

The screenplays for both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson.  Jackson is also producing the films, together with Fran Walsh and Carolynne Cunningham.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Ken Kamins, Toby Emmerich and Zane Weiner, with Boyens serving as co-producer.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. with New Line managing production.

Warner Bros Pictures will be handling theatrical distribution for most of the world and MGM will handle all international television licensing and theatrical distribution for certain international territories for the films.

About The LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a privately held, family-owned company, based in Billund, Denmark. It was founded in 1932 and today the group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of play materials for children, employing approximately 9,000 people globally. The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children’s creative and imaginative abilities. LEGO products can be purchased in more than 130 countries.

LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of The LEGO Group.  © 2011 The LEGO Group.

About Warner Bros. Consumer Products
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

WB SHIELD: ™ & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

About Middle-earth Enterprises
The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in the literary works of  J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.  SZC has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien works for more than 30 years.  Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California and its Middle-earth Enterprises’ website may be found at www.middleearth.com.

© New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.

© New Line Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. The Hobbit: THERE AND BACK AGAIN and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.

© 2011 New Line Productions, Inc.  All rights reserved.  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and the names of the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.

We needs it, Precious!

Now, how long until WB Games announces the LEGO Lord of the Rings game for the Xbox 360…? 🙂

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

2 thoughts on “On LEGO Lord of the Rings

    1. Though I like Character Options’ Doctor Who Character Building sets, and though I think the pieces feel like LEGO to fool a blind taste test, it’s not quite the same. The minifigs aren’t right.

      I love the commercials for the Doctor Who sets, though, with an animated Doctor minifig running around zapping things with his sonic. That makes me yearn for a Doctor Who Character Building video game along the lines of the LEGO Star Wars game.

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