The movie rights for "Lord of the Rings" are for sale

Some of Hollywood's most coveted movie rights are about to be sold. These are the books "The Lord of the Rings", "The Hobbit", "Silmarillion" and the author J.R.R. Tolkien's other works on the fantasy world Middle-earth. The rights include not only new feature films but also games, amusement parks, promotional items and toys as well as live events.

The current owner Saul Zaentz Co. will auction off their rights during the week. They are expected to raise at least $2 billion, according to Variety. Which studio or streaming service is entering the auction remains to be seen, but a potential buyer is Amazon, which is said to be a top candidate. Amazon Prime Video has already entered Tolkien's worlds with the TV series "Rings of Power" which will be released this autumn - thanks to a loophole that applied to TV series, they were able to set up a deal directly with Tolkien's estate.

The most famous film adaptations of Tolkien's work are Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001-2003) and the "Hobbit" trilogy (2012-2014). But more is on the way: Warner Bros. is working on an animated film entitled "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim".