The War of the Rohirrim: A Box Office Flop Turned Streaming Sensation

Well, well, well! Look who’s getting a second chance! The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the biggest box office bomb in the franchise’s history, is finding new life on streaming. Despite not exactly setting the world on fire in theaters, the movie is raking in viewers on Max.

The War of the Rohirrim was the first anime in the Middle-earth universe and was produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Kenji Kamiyama (Eden of the East, Blade Runner: Black Lotus). The film told the untold story of Helm Hammerhand and his daughter Héra as they defended what would become Helm’s Deep. But despite the interesting premise and the built in fanbase, the movie just didn’t generate any interest. It made $4.6 million against a $30 million budget. That’s a big disappointment not just for the Lord of the Rings series but for other anime movies as well.

Stiff Competition and Mixed Reviews

In its theatrical run, War of the Rohirrim was up against some stiff competition, especially from Sony and Crunchyroll’s Solo Leveling - ReAwakening which made $2.4m on 854 screens vs Rohirrim’s 2,000+. The film did poorly at the box office and with mixed reviews, 6.7/10 on IMDb and 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s franchise fatigue especially after the mixed reviews of Amazon’s Rings of Power series.

But the story takes a dramatic turn with the film’s release on Max. According to FlixPatrol, War of the Rohirrim is climbing the streaming charts fast. In its first week on the platform, the film scored 448 points on FlixPatrol’s system which awards points based on a film’s ranking in different territories. 448 is close to the max 500 points which means #1 in every market. The film’s streaming performance is also showing great momentum, from 263 points on March 1 to 448 points by March 6, that’s a 70% increase in just one week.

A New Era of Content Consumption

The film’s success on streaming shows us a new era of how audiences consume cinematic content. While War of the Rohirrim didn’t do so hot in theaters, its streaming popularity proves there’s still a big appetite for animated Tolkien stories, just in a streaming format not a theatrical one. As the industry moves forward, this could be the way forward for future adaptations and expansions of the Lord of the Rings lore.

In short, The War of the Rohirrim is a great example of how a film’s journey doesn’t end when it leaves the theater. It can find new audience and appreciation in the ever growing world of streaming.