The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will feature the return of Saruman to the big screen, and it will be using the voice of the original actor from Peter Jackson’s seminal trilogy. Set almost two hundred years prior, The War of the Rohirrim features some familiar faces in animated form, but the film had to get creative to bring back the wizard. Although he passed away years ago, Christopher Lee has been brought back for the upcoming anime film to play the iconic villain from The Lord of the Rings.
During an interview with The One Ring, longtime franchise screenwriter and producer Philippa Boyens revealed how exactly they brought back Lee as Saruman for The War of the Rohirrim. Thankfully, AI was not used to generate new voice lines that sound like the actor. Instead, Boyens and co. reviewed old lines recorded by Lee for the Hobbit trilogy and chose one that fit the context of the anime movie. It’s unclear how significant his role is, but Saruman’s appearance seems closer to a brief cameo. Boyens explains:
“We based it on a line from The Hobbit, which is, ‘Are you in need of assistance my lady,’ or something — a version of that line. And we thought, okay, that’s a line we can see how many takes he did of that. Can we use it? Can we find a new read on it and change it up a little bit? And our brilliant guys did that. But it is an authentic bit of Christoper Lee performance that it’s based on that line.”
Iconic wizards from the original Lord of the Rings trilogy have been making headlines as of late. In addition to Saruman, Ian McKellen has already teased his return as Gandalf in the next two live-action movies. Moreover, the Rings of Power revealed the Stranger as Gandalf in the season finale, while also teasing the true identity of the mysterious dark wizard. Due to when the War of the Rohirrim takes place in the timeline, don’t expect Gandalf to make a cameo appearance in the film.
What is The War of the Rohirrim About?
Directed by anime veteran Kenji Kamiyama, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim follows Helm Hammerland (Brian Cox), the king of Rohan, and his daughter Hèra (Gaia Wise), as they attempt to protect their kingdom against the invading Wolf (Luke Pasqualino) and the Dunlendings. As the trailer suggests, an all-out war commences between the clans, and it’s up to Hèra to fend off Wolf, who is seeking vengeance for the death of his father. Read the official plot synopsis:
Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless Dunlending lord seeking vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg— a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.
Related
Lord of the Rings Trilogy Writer Reveals Why She Won’t Watch The Rings of Power
And no, it’s not because she hates The Rings of Power.
The War of the Rohirrim is officially canon to the Peter Jackson-directed trilogy. This is further emphasized by the fact Saruman appears as played by the original actor. However, it seems that more familiar characters won’t be showing up in the anime film. Instead, the story fills in the blank in the period before the events of Lords of the Rings. It will still likely heavily foreshadow the return of Sauron, as one of the main characters of War of the Rohirrim becomes a Nazgûl, a corrupted servant of the Dark Lord.
