The Academy Award-winning writer behind The Return of the King is making a comeback with The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, hitting theaters this Friday. When thinking about the driving forces behind the success of the Lord of the Rings films, three names should immediately come to mind. Of course, Peter Jackson is the first, as he directed and received much of the credit. However, Jackson collaborated closely with writers and producers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who played a significant role in shaping the stories of the original trilogy. Now, as The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is released, the trio is reunited. Jackson and Walsh serve as executive producers, while Boyens takes on a more active role as a standard producer. Boyens played a crucial role in deciding the narrative for the animated film and was deeply involved in every step of the process, working closely with the writers and supporting director Kenji Kamiyama. She is now conducting interviews to promote the film. io9 had the opportunity to sit down with the Oscar-winning writer and producer to explore her contributions to the project. They discussed expectations, story development, and the balance between staying true to Tolkien’s canon while introducing new elements. The conversation also delved into the connection between the theatrical films and the upcoming Amazon TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and the decision to bring back some of the original collaborators. Check it out. Here we go – Warner Bros. Germain Lussier, io9: Let’s start with the bigger picture because you’ve been involved since the beginning. It’s been nearly 30 years since you began working on the initial films. At that time, did you ever envision the cultural impact the films would have when you first started writing them? Philippa Boyens: Absolutely not. We were solely focused on making a successful film. We had no concept of blockbusters or any of that. io9: So there wasn’t a moment when you thought, “Maybe we’ll win awards and make three more movies, and then we’ll create an anime?” Boyens: No, never. One time, when we had to go from two scripts to three, it felt like a train coming at us, and we were laying the tracks. We worked insane hours, and our kids suffered a bit, but we knew there was no reward beyond the work itself. io9: But clearly, there were plenty of rewards. We’re still talking about it years later. Tell me about the decision to create this movie. Did Warner Bros. approach you? Boyens: Yes, Warner Bros. approached us around 2019, asking if we would be interested in returning to the world with an animated film. They knew not to suggest a live-action film since we weren’t ready for that. Initially, I was skeptical because I wasn’t sure how to approach an animated film. But when they mentioned anime, a story immediately came to mind. io9: What was it about this story that resonated with you? Boyens: I thought it would fit well with the tradition of Japanese filmmaking. The story didn’t neatly follow the hero’s journey tradition, and it had elements that reminded me of great Japanese films. io9: You used the source material from the appendices as a foundation. How did you ensure the characters and places fit into the world you created? Boyens: I worked with two talented young writers, but we reached a point where we felt stuck. Bringing in a young female screenwriter, Phoebe Gittins, helped us reshape the story, particularly with the character Hera. Once we approached the story from a different perspective, everything fell into place.
