Lego Hobbit and LOTR!!

[natelite]

Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group
Build on Partnership to Produce Construction Toys for

THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ Trilogy and the Two Films Based on THE HOBBIT
-Building Sets Based on Epic Film Trilogy and Forthcoming Theatrical Release Slated for 2012-



BILLUND, Denmark and Burbank, CA – December 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 http://TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com

[natelite]

I guess the only other big license not won yet is world of Warcraft! Come on WoW. Actually, I like the WoW orcs better than the ugly LOTR orcs.

Lego should test the rpg market by going with Lego heroica first then discontinue it for WoW.

[BrickGarurumon]

No way.

[harry99]

That's the original article for folks who are interested: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047584

I would say good news - think about the potential of re-creating middle-earth with LEGO bricks... can't wait!

[natelite]

i dunno though. a lot of the chars look dull for lego. in fact, i think LOTR orcs legorized pale in comparison to lego orcs from the fantasy theme. i think they'll need to do some creative tinkering with the legorized characters if they want to sell the sets. similarly the elves from the movie suck (imo) comparing to the cmf s3 elf.

strict adaptation to movie wouldn't do too well, me thinks. is there a lotr cartoon? perhaps that might work better.

i'll need to watch the movie again to see if my recollection agrees with reality. i remember not being too fond of legolas, boromir or aragon's outfits.

[lego dad]

this is monster news! i love watching the movies so this is gonna be so cool! can't wait to get my shire, rivendell & gondor set! with all the new superheroes sets coming out and now this, 2012 is going to be the very expensive year for legos for me...

[ncbarrett]

wow!
LEGO is going to have a year to remember.
DC, Marvel and LotR!

[sadowsk1]

That's pretty rockin'. Lego has a lot of the fixins for something as sweet as this.

[Brickbuilder0937]

I have been dreaming and wishing for this licence ever since the movies came out. This is without a doubt my ultimate dream theme.

[fouzie]

http://thelordoftherings.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx

I'll be broke in 2012
or not

[hatcher]

Super Heroes, Dino's and now Lord of the Rings. Anyone need a kidney? I'm probably going to have to sell one to collect all of these. So exciting!

[champ]

Ok, this has the potential to be either very cool, or very bad. I absolutely HATE movie scene sets, where they try to re-create some pivotal action scene in LEGO. This never works. If they keep the sets as buildings, structures, or vehicles, it will be good, or possible great.

Please PLEASE, don't try and make action scene Lego sets.

(please?)

[Brick & Blue]

I rather have Castle, or Kingdoms, or even Heroica sets.

[peanut]

Yes! Nice job TLG! I will happily take the joust set and LOTR/Hobbit.

[unclephn]

That poster is all kinds of awesome.

[dulait]

I guess the only other big license not won yet is world of Warcraft! Come on WoW. Actually, I like the WoW orcs better than the ugly LOTR orcs.

Lego should test the rpg market by going with Lego heroica first then discontinue it for WoW.

Megablocks is doing Wow since they got the license for it and some sets pics can be found online. Also they'll be doing Starcraft in summer of 2012.

For Lord Of The Rings, I hope they do it right. Design some unique piece for the sets instead of using exsisting castles, or kingdoms pieces.

[hardtravelinghero]

I guess the only other big license not won yet is world of Warcraft! Come on WoW. Actually, I like the WoW orcs better than the ugly LOTR orcs.

Lego should test the rpg market by going with Lego heroica first then discontinue it for WoW.

Megablocks is doing Wow since they got the license for it and some sets pics can be found online. Also they'll be doing Starcraft in summer of 2012.

For Lord Of The Rings, I hope they do it right. Design some unique piece for the sets instead of using exsisting castles, or kingdoms pieces.

Think about it. Lego more or less did awesome "LOTR" with the Trolls and Dwarves Kingdom sub-themes only now everything is going to cost about 20% more in order for Lego to pay for (re: pass on to customers) licensing fees. Do a comparison of $20 non-licensed sets and their $25-30 licensed counterparts regarding piece count and minifig count. What is almost always the better deal in this sense and often even in playability and design?

[SpaceNinjaDino]

OMG!!! This is my dream come true. The only reason why I ever got in to Castle/Kingdoms/Heroica was to emulate parts of Middle Earth. This is the best news ever. (It's the worst news to my wallet ... I will spend thousands. I think I'll be motivated to get a second job just to buy extra.)

I know that we'll be be paying a lot for the license, but at least it will be authentic. I'm sure I will integrate all my Castle/Kingdom sets with this.

What is more, is that I have to be able to play a LEGO LOTR video game. I'm never sick of the Travelers' Tales LEGO games (except their lack of online co-op). I pray they can get that license, but EA would probably throw a fit. They proved they can have hordes of enemies in SW III, but somehow lost the charm in HP 5-7. HP 1-4 was my favorite overall, but it didn't have the massive landscapes that SW III managed.

[Cimmerian]

I'm very excited about this. There's probably enough of us LOTR nerds that these'll sell more than the Star Wars sets. I can't wait!!!

[dr_spock]

I'm definitely looking forward to this.