The animated prequel film will be a collaboration between New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Animation, and original 'LOTR' trilogy writer Philippa Boyens.

'Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' will be the next movie set in Middle Earth.

Following on from Peter Jackson's original trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series, and his later trilogy prequel inspired by 'The Hobbit', this is the first time we'll be getting an animated telling from the series.

According to The Wrap, the new theatrical release will be set 250 years before the events of 'The Fellowship of the Ring'. It will follow the story of Helm Hammerhand, a legendary King of Rohan. In his writings, Tolkien described events of his life in appendices from the books, but it is believed the team will be creating a new story inspired by these details.

Hailing from New Line Cinema, the studio behind all of the previous movie iterations, is teaming up with Warner Bros. Animation for 'The War of the Rohirrim'. Warner Bros. Animation has brought us 'The Iron Giant', 'The LEGO Movie', and of course 'Space Jam' and its upcoming sequel.

A member of the original movie trilogy’s screenwriting team, Philippa Boyens, will serve as a consultant on the animation.

Director and Japanese animator Kenji Kamiyama will helm the project, who has been instrumental in the 'Ghost in the Shell' animation series. Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews (Netflix's cancelled 'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance') are writing the screenplay, while anime producer Joseph Chou will produce.

With such a creative team on board, this could be a side of 'LOTR' we've yet to see. Leaning more heavily into the anime realm, the team could deliver some pretty amazing action sequences for the film.

There's been no release window for the project yet, but animation work is already believed to have started at Sola Entertainment. Voice casting is also underway.

The next time we'll see a 'Lord of the Rings' adaptation on our screens will be Amazon's prequel TV series. Set thousands of years before the 'Fellowship of the Ring' trilogy, the series is expected to arrive at some point in 2022.