Brian Cox is taking on Middle-earth in a new anime adaptation. On Tuesday, June 11, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. unveiled an exclusive first look at the upcoming anime-style feature film The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which takes place more than 150 years before the original Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The first-look photographs show Cox’s character Helm Hammerhand seated with his family, which includes the newly added characters Héra, Haleth, and Hama. Another close-up of Héra shows her carrying a sword.
Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote the screenplays for all three Lord of the Rings films and The Hobbit trilogy, reveals that while working with director Kenji Kamiyama to adapt Middle-earth to the popular Japanese animation style, they encountered some challenges that they weren’t prepared to face, such as the high cost of implementing certain elements of storytelling that are typical of anime.
Cox voices Hammerhand, the film’s principal character, who is characterized as “the legendary King of Rohan” in the official description. The film portrays a struggle between Rohan, a kingdom from the first trilogy of films, and the Dunleding, forcing Helm and his people to seek safety in Helm’s Deep, a castle familiar to fans.
“There are some very moving scenes in this film, but what really made them stand out was Brian Cox’s voice acting,” gushes 62-year-old Boyens about Cox’s portrayal.
According to the film’s description, Helm’s daughter Héra “must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their destruction” as Rohan’s condition worsens. “I have to say, being the father of a daughter was also really interesting given the dynamic at the heart of this film,” Boyens says of the Succession alum’s role. “That was really great.”
The film’s voice cast also includes Luke Pasqualino, Lorraine Ashbourne, Benjamin Wainwright, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Michael Wildman, Jude Akuwudike, Bilal Hasna, and Janine Duvitski. Miranda Otto, who portrayed Éowyn in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, also serves as a narrator in the new film.
“I think it took her maybe about 10, 15 minutes standing at the microphone and you could feel the voice coming back and the character coming back,” Boyens adds on Otto’s performance. “It was incredibly wonderful to watch,”
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim opens in cinemas on December 13.
