Saturday afternoon at 5:30PM in Hyatt International South, the High Fantasy track hosted a panel that brought members the latest news in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. From books to video games, the session looked both forward and back. Chief Operating Officer of TheOneRing.net, Kirsten Z. Cairns (Greendragon) led the panel. Joining her were Jim Wert, Rebecca Perry, and Willie Jenkins. 

Cairns began by introducing everyone to Middle Earth Enterprises. Formerly a division of the Saul Zaentz company, it is now a member of the Embracer Group. Middle Earth Enterprises represents the latest chapter in the long and complex saga of commercial rights to Tolkien’s work. The Tolkien estate retains possession of all rights to The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales, but several entities enjoy some degree of rights to various components of the remaining Tolkien material. According to Middle Earth Enterprises they now “are the stewards of the vast majority of entertainment rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.” TheOneRing.net, born in 1999 as a fan website tracking the development of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, is now part of the company. It is Cairns’s goal (and intention) to help the company interact with fans both proactively and positively.

Several anniversaries are approaching, including the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and with that comes a variety of new works and publications. A work appearing for the first time is Tolkien’s The Bovadium Fragments. Edited by the late Christopher Tolkien, and available November 18, 2025, the work is a “satirical fantasy” that reflects not only Tolkien’s propensity for poking fun at his colleagues in academia but a larger critique of industrialization. The publishers refer to it as “unlike anything else that J.R.R. Tolkien wrote.” 

Turning to film, Cairns is looking forward to the “treats” that may appear in the anniversary editions of the film trilogy. She showed those in attendance an outtake from the original in which Eowyn battles Orcs in the caverns of Helm’s Deep and mentioned that perhaps much more like this may make its way into those anniversary special editions. 

Beyond the anniversary, Tolkien fandom is looking forward to the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum. Set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the film will tell the tale of the search for Gollum. New Line Cinema, WingNut Films, and the Weta Workshop are once again teaming up for the production. The release date of the film has been a moving target; as of now it is set for December 2027. On returning to the world of Tolkien, and embracing yet another epic project, Phillip Boyens, co-writer of the original film trilogy, declared to Cairns that she “was ready.” Andy Serkis (Gollum) will direct. 

What came to dominate the session, however, was the reception of the animated The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (2024). Directed by Kenji Kamiyama, the anime film tells the story of king Helm Hammerhand and his daughter Hera. Miranda Otto, Eowyn in the film trilogy, reprises her role and narrates the film. Cairns, a fan of the film, pointed out that it adds depth and understanding to the concept of a “Shield Maiden” in Rohan and enlightens Eowyn’s role. That subtlety, along with the artistry of the anime, makes the film a success for her. The rest of the panel was more ambivalent and while the film has been more successful streaming on HBO-MAX than it was in the theater, it hadn’t really resonated among those in attendance. Many hadn’t seen it, and many more had various criticisms and concerns with it. 

There is always much to discover and consider in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and 2025 is no exception. You can visit TheOneRing.net table on the Exhibit level of the Atrium Tower in the Hyatt throughout the convention.