Andy Serkis brings footage to Annecy

“The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim”

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Andy Serkis led a committee for The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim Fans were able to experience the first 20 minutes of the theatrical anime film at the Annecy Animation Festival.

This film hails from New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation, this film by director Kenji Kamiyama is based on a short clip from the novel by author J. R. R. Tolkien. the Lord of the Rings It will be shown in theaters on December 13. The film focuses on Hera (voiced by Gaia Wise) – the daughter of Helm Hammerhand (Brian Cox), one of Rohan’s prominent kings – as the family attempts to protect their region from the Dunlendings.

“Audiences are going to go crazy for this,” Serkis, who was not directly involved in the film but recently watched it, told the audience Tuesday when he presented the footage. “You’re the first to see this, boy. It’s an extraordinary piece of work.”

After the clip was well received by audiences, Serkis channeled the character Gollum, from director Peter Jackson’s live-action film. the Lord of the Rings And The hobbit Movies, he joked: “There’s only one word to describe a movie Lord of the rings And anime at the same time, that is costly“.

Serkis then introduced the project committee that included Kameyama, producers Philippa Boyens and Joseph Chu, and Jason DeMarco, a Warners executive. Kamiyama, known for directing the anime series Blade Runner: Black LotusHe maintained that he was a loyal fan of the Jackson film series and watched each of the three films on opening night.

During the panel, the team announced that Jackson and his producing partner Fran Walsh were the executive producers of the animated film. Jackson appeared via video at the beginning of the event to introduce the project.

Kamiyama appreciated Boyens’ involvement in helping lead story development for the new film, given that she co-wrote Jackson’s films. “It was essential for Philippa to lead the story,” the director said through a translator.

DeMarco discussed the challenge of bringing it together Lord of the rings Franchise with the world of anime. “We didn’t want to do an animated version of a Peter Jackson movie,” he said. “We wanted to make a feature-length anime film with Kenji Kamiyama that lives within this world. This is a very difficult task and requires a lot of careful balancing between two genres of filmmaking that have never collided in this way before.

Chu noted how difficult the task of creating the film was and stated that he went from envisioning it as lasting 90 minutes to then ending up lasting two and a half hours. “Don’t we all — at least,” Serkis mocked the series’ penchant for feature-length films.

Serkis has continued to impress with his work on the planned live-action feature The Lord of the Rings: The Search for Gollumwhich will see him star in and direct the film, with Jackson also producing the project.

“We all know Lord of the rings “It’s a very popular IP,” Sarkis said. “I feel very lucky to have been a part of it so many times and I’m happy to be back.”