Lego The Lord of the Rings is coming! (Lego The Hobbit, too!)

Looks like the article I wrote a while ago about the potential for a Lego Lord of the Rings was right on the money.   Back in February of 2010, I wrote that the LEGO company could create products based on the Lord of the Rings.   My article was more about video games than anything else, but this is a good start.   I suspect that video games are only a matter of time, now.

Here’s the press release:

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 RINGSâ„¢  trilogy and the two films based on  THE HOBBITâ„¢.   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 Journeyfrom 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  andCarolynne 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.

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