EA Extends Already-Interminably-Long Lord Of The Rings License
I'm a fantasy writer at heart, so let me just clear the air for some of the sass I'm about to dish out regarding all the millions of Lord of the Rings games - present and future. I loves me Tolkien; I loves me Frodo; I even loves me some all-day-director's-cut-trilogy marathon movie watching. But enough with the Lord of the Rings games, already. Or at least, you know, take a break. Middle-Earth has been around for decades...it ain't going anywhere.
Anyway, enough of my ranting. EA has renewed its license to rape...I mean, reap the benefits of the Lord of the Rings franchise into 2008. Peter Jackson's films have grossed over $3 billion, so you can't blame EA for wanting this goose to lay yet another golden egg, as EA's Frank Gibeau spins it:
“The Lord of the Rings is an incredible canvas to create epic games... We look forward to our next project with New Line Cinema and Tolkien Enterprises scheduled to ship in 2008.”
What do y'all think? More Gandolf, or enough with the hobbits already?
Make the jump for the full press release.
EA AND NEW LINE CINEMA EXTEND THE LORD OF THE RINGS LICENSE
EA Agreement with New Line Cinema and Tolkien Enterprises Extended with All-New Title in Development for 2008
CHERTSEY, UK March 28, 2007 – Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that it has renewed the license to launch additional games within the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic literary fiction, The Lord of the Rings™, through 2008. EA has developed games based on New Line Cinema’s Academy Award® winning theatrical productions of The Lord of the Rings since 2001. To date, the New Line Cinema feature film trilogy has grossed more than $3 billion worldwide. By moving ahead with this popular license, and the development of an all-new title scheduled for release in 2008, EA will continue to give gamers the most engaging experiences in the realm of Middle-earth.
“The Lord of the Rings is an incredible canvas to create epic games,” said Frank Gibeau, EA’s executive vice president and general manager of North American publishing. “We look forward to our next project with New Line Cinema and Tolkien Enterprises scheduled to ship in 2008.”
“We have a long history of making great games with EA and are thrilled to extend our longstanding relationship,” said David Imhoff, New Line’s senior executive vice president of worldwide licensing and merchandising. “We look forward to working closely with EA to create even more compelling Lord of the Rings adventures in the future.”
With EA and New Line Cinema’s continued partnership, fans can look forward to new, in-depth and compelling interactive adventures inspired by the books and movies of The Lord of the Rings. Details will be forthcoming on an all-new The Lord of the Rings title.
EA was granted the rights to The Lord of the Rings videogames based on the trilogy of books by J.R.R. Tolkien, in accordance with an agreement with the Saul Zaentz Company D/B/A Tolkien Enterprises, in addition to a separate agreement which allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films. For information about all of EA’s games, please visit EA’s press site at www.electronicarts.co.uk/press.
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 29 March 2007
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: ea, hobbits, lotr, tolkien
I'd like someone capable of making games worth playing to get this license away from EA at some point...
Hey I recognize that screenshot. That from my review of the Hobbit the 70s animated film. For some reason Google Images loves that photo.
What I'd like to see is a Soul Calibur-style beat'em up featuring LOTR chars. Beat Frodo up using Gandalf and his stick! (hmmmm)
Eowyn vs. Arwen: FIGHT!
Peter Jackson vs. New Line Executives: FINAL STAGE!
T