At the Annecy Animation Festival, Andy Serkis led a panel showcasing the first 20 minutes of the highly anticipated theatrical anime film, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim comes as a collection of conflicting tales in which the First Age and the Rohirrim people’s war is exposed.

The audiences got a sneak peek into this new instalment in the much loved series that is based on New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation. The art film is in contention for this year’s awards season directed by Kenji Kamiyama and is adapted from ‘The Lord of Rings’ by J. R. Tolkien; this movie is scheduled to release on the 13th of December.

The plot focuses on Hèra, the main character voiced by Gaia Wise; she is a pretty and bright girl who became the daughter of Rohan King Helm Hammerhand, performed by Brian Cox. It revolves around their family and their fight against the Dunlendings trying to seize their possession.

“The fans are gonna go nuts for this,” Serkis declared.

“You are the first people to see this, and boy, it’s an extraordinary piece of work.” The audience received the preview warmly, prompting Serkis to channel his iconic Gollum character from Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, humorously adding, “There is only one word to describe a movie with Lord of the Rings and anime at the same time, and that is precious.”

Kenji Kamiyama and team unveil behind-the-scenes of The War of the Rohirrim at Annecy

The panel featured key figures from the project, including director Kamiyama, producers Philippa Boyens and Joseph Chou, and Warner Bros. executive Jason DeMarco. Kamiyama, known for directing the anime series Blade Runner: Black Lotus, expressed his admiration for Jackson’s film adaptations, noting he watched each of the three movies on their opening nights. During the discussion, it was revealed that Jackson and his producing partner Fran Walsh are serving as executive producers for the animated movie. Jackson himself appeared via video to introduce the project, emphasizing its significance.

Kamiyama spoke through an interpreter about the importance of Boyens' role in shaping the film’s story: “It was essential that Philippa led the story,” he said. DeMarco discussed, “We did not want to make an animated version of a Peter Jackson film,” and added, “We wanted to make a Kenji Kamiyama anime feature film that lives within that world. And that’s a difficult, difficult task that requires a lot of delicate balancing between two types of filmmaking that haven’t really collided like this before.”

“There are certain things I don't think we could have necessarily done — or they would have made it extremely expensive — elements to the storytelling that you could do in anime in a way that was kind of breathtaking, actually,” a producer of the film, Philippa Boyens told People.

Chou earlier expressed that creating the film was a daunting task. Serkis quipped, “Don’t they all — at least.”

Serkis also teased his upcoming project, The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, where he will both star and direct, with Jackson also executive producing.

“We all know Lord of the Rings is a massively popular IP,” Serkis said.

“I feel very blessed and lucky enough to have been part of it many times and am happily returning.”