The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie and video game rights are being sold off, report says

The rights to make movies and video games based on JRR Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are about to go up for sale, according to a report Wednesday. The Saul Zaentz Company is selling off the Tolkien rights it acquired back in 1976 for a predicted $2 billion, Variety said.

The rights also include TV shows with more than 8 episodes, live events, merchandise and theme parks, and some rights across additional Tolkien texts The Silmarillion and The Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-Earth, according to Variety. 

The Saul Zaentz Company’s Middle-earth Enterprises didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel series: What to know about The Rings of Power

Amazon could be considering purchasing the rights, Variety said, after it paid a reported $250 million for the rights to make its upcoming TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Amazon reportedly bought those rights directly from the Tolkien estate, however, due to the eight-episode loophole.

The Rings of Power will premiere on Amazon Prime Sept. 2, and will explore the 20 rings Sauron made for the races of men, dwarves and elves along with the one ring for himself. 

Warner Bros. has also previously battled in court with the Tolkien estate over profits made in New Line Cinema’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Warner Bros. has another upcoming LOTR project in the works: an anime prequel called The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

The anime will go into the history of Helm’s Deep, the famous site of the later Battle of the Hornburg during the War of the Ring, shown in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie.