It’s been less than three weeks since The War of the Rohirrim charged into theaters in what Warner Bros, New Line Cinema, and even Embracer Group hoped would be a successful box office sortie. Instead, less than three weeks later, The War of the Rohirrim has retreated from theaters and charged straight to digital platforms today as The Lord of the Rings movie failed to succeed at the box office.
During its opening weekend, The War of the Rohirrim brought in $4.6 million at the domestic box office and a global total of $10.3 million, falling well below initial estimates. Box office sales then dropped by 72% during the anime film’s second weekend with the domestic box office dropping to $1.27 million and the global gross reaching $15.37 million.
The box office performance for Rohirrim, which takes place 183 years before Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, has been so poor that it invited speculation as to whether or not The War of the Rohirrim box office total would even surpass the The Lord of the Rings 1978 animated film which grossed $30.4 million at the box office.
Even so, the speed at which The War of the Rohirrim has been pulled from theaters would leave Shadowfax in the dust. Prior to what would have been its third weekend in theaters, the question was asked whether or not the movie would be pulled or run alongside its digital release. Looking at AMC Theatres’ website confirms that the movie is no longer available for viewing.
Leading up to its release, The War of the Rohirrim showed early signs of problems resulting in backlash from Tolkien fans and disinterest from the general public. For Tolkien fans, it was the fact the character of Helm Hammerhand wouldn’t even be the main character in his own story, supplanted by Héra, the unnamed daughter in Tolkien’s story. As more information was released about Héra, the impression of her was that this would be another girl boss movie, which both Tolkien fans and the general audience were no longer interested in. Even an eight-minute clip released shortly before the movie hit theaters failed to reign in the general audience.
Another factor was that Rohirrim was an anime film which is not very popular or successful when it comes to the domestic box office. In addition, a major factor was the strong competition at the box office from Moana 2 and Wicked during its opening weekend, followed by the release of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King during its second weekend, meant that its target audience would be drawn away.
One final reason as to why Rohirrim stumbled at the box office is because The Lord of the Rings brand, which it relied on heavily in its promotion, has lost its drawing power. Mostly due to it being 10 years since the last LOTR movie and Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power which has not been well-received by the general audience and majority of Tolkien fans.
The War of the Rohirrim will be available on Prime Video and Apple TV+ for purchase at $24.99 or $19.99 to rent for 48 hours. Despite the shift from movie theaters to digital platforms, it seems doubtful that this shift in strategy will help the movie recoup its estimated $30 million budget immediately.
In light of this development, it is now a fact – The War of the Rohirrim failed to match or surpass Bakshi’s 1978 The Lord of the Rings animated film at the box office. This also makes The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim the worst-performing Lord of the Rings movie at the box office with a total lifetime gross of $15,534,759 (as of 12/27 according to Box Office Mojo).
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