The Lord of the Rings anime film finally has a release date for theaters. To celebrate, Warner Bros. also released a new bit of concept art to dig into.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will be released in theaters on April 12, 2024. Anime director Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) will direct the film with Academy Award winner Philippa Boyens — who wrote the screenplays for the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy — serving as executive producer.

War of the Rohirrim will take place two centuries before the events of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and will follow King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand and the creation of Helm’s Deep. The fortress was seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as a bastion against Sauron’s forces.

You can check out the first concept art for the animated film below.

The anime film was announced in 2021 and will serve as a companion piece to Peter Jackson’s trilogy. The art style seen above is reminiscent of the visual tone set by the movies and the involvement of Jackson’s colleagues is another connective thread.

“The ‘Lord of the Rings’ films took Tolkein’s masterwork to new cinematic heights and inspired a generation,” says Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich. “It’s a gift to be able to revisit Middle-earth with many of the same creative visionaries and the talented Kenji Kamiyama at the helm.”

War of the Rohirrim isn’t the only Lord of the Rings project in the works. Amazon is readying their live-action series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, having recently premiered the first teaser trailer.

The future of Middle-earth is also possibly set to be busier than ever as the movie and game rights for Tolkein’s fantasy world are expected to go up for sale, with a projected price tag of $2 billion. Whoever claims this one [copyright] could control the fate of Middle-earth [in media].

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

The Lord of the Rings anime film finally has a release date for theaters. To celebrate, Warner Bros. also released a new bit of concept art to dig into.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim will be released in theaters on April 12, 2024. Anime director Kenji Kamiyama (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) will direct the film with Academy Award winner Philippa Boyens — who wrote the screenplays for the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy — serving as executive producer.

War of the Rohirrim will take place two centuries before the events of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and will follow King of Rohan Helm Hammerhand and the creation of Helm’s Deep. The fortress was seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers as a bastion against Sauron’s forces.

You can check out the first concept art for the animated film below.

The anime film was announced in 2021 and will serve as a companion piece to Peter Jackson’s trilogy. The art style seen above is reminiscent of the visual tone set by the movies and the involvement of Jackson’s colleagues is another connective thread.

“The ‘Lord of the Rings’ films took Tolkein’s masterwork to new cinematic heights and inspired a generation,” says Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich. “It’s a gift to be able to revisit Middle-earth with many of the same creative visionaries and the talented Kenji Kamiyama at the helm.”

War of the Rohirrim isn’t the only Lord of the Rings project in the works. Amazon is readying their live-action series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, having recently premiered the first teaser trailer.

The future of Middle-earth is also possibly set to be busier than ever as the movie and game rights for Tolkein’s fantasy world are expected to go up for sale, with a projected price tag of $2 billion. Whoever claims this one [copyright] could control the fate of Middle-earth [in media].

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

When Earthbound popped up during last week's Nintendo Direct, fans briefly hoped that Mother 3 might finally get its much-requested English release. Those hopes were ultimately dashed, but this gorgeous new trailer is a small consolation prize for fans desperate to play Shigesato Itoi's classic RPG.

Developed by Curiomatic, the Youtube channel behind the popular Smashified series of videos, it offers an arresting glimpse of how a full-blown remake might look, from the battle system to a cameo by the Mecha-Drago. Similar to 2019's remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, it meticulously recreates familiar scenes from Mother 3 using clay figures — a nod to the advertising of the first two games.

Speaking via DM, illustrator Omni Jacala tells IGN that the project took a team of 22 creators more than two years to produce. It included more than 90 characters, "hundreds of props," and more than 30 environments — all for a trailer that lasts just over three minutes.

Originally conceived back in 2015, work began on the project at the end of 2019. The team hoped to release the trailer in time for the 15th anniversary of the original game, but it wound up taking another year to "fully realize our vision," Jacala says.

Jacala says the team was inspired by Itoi's ability to "craft beautiful stories within the constraints of the limited hardware at his disposal." Like its predecessors, Mother 3 was a 16-bit RPG with colorful but otherwise relatively simple visuals. It gained fame in North America thanks to the way that it married mature themes with comic visuals, which in turn inspired a number of independent RPGs, mostly notably Undertale.

"The stories definitely speak to themes of family, friendship, coming of age—things that often have a profound impact on those who play it. The many let's players who have played the game can certainly speak to that," Jacala says. "On top of that, I think that the original games being in that sort of top-down, classic RPG style makes it necessary for players to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps. And that’s not to discount Itoi's writing at all, but something about primitive graphics leaves room for the imagination to elevate the experience above what we see on the surface."

The team decided to use clay figures to "fill the gap" with the first two games. "The Mother/Earthbound series is well known for the clay figures that were produced to promote the first two games. However, the creators of the game never made clay models for the third game, so we felt there was a need to sort of fill a gap, so to speak. We felt that going for a stop-motion aesthetic akin to the likes of Studio Laika or Aardman Animations would be appropriate to carry on the tradition of the figurines," Jacala explains.

If you've never played Mother 3, you needn't worry too much about spoilers. In choosing the scenes to depict from the game, Jacala says that the team went with moments that don't have as much significance without context. The result is a trailer that gives viewers a feel for Mother 3 without ruining its biggest surprises.

Curiomatic's trailer is part of an going wave of appreciation for the Earthbound series that recently included the release of Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings for Nintendo Switch. As the only game in the series to not get a North American release, Mother 3 has been hotly-requested by fans over the years, to the point that former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé joked about the constant requests for a translation. Even Terry Crews has asked for it.

In the wake of last week's Nintendo Direct, we're no closer to an official release for Mother 3, but Curiomatic's imagined remake can let us dream.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

When Earthbound popped up during last week's Nintendo Direct, fans briefly hoped that Mother 3 might finally get its much-requested English release. Those hopes were ultimately dashed, but this gorgeous new trailer is a small consolation prize for fans desperate to play Shigesato Itoi's classic RPG.

Developed by Curiomatic, the Youtube channel behind the popular Smashified series of videos, it offers an arresting glimpse of how a full-blown remake might look, from the battle system to a cameo by the Mecha-Drago. Similar to 2019's remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, it meticulously recreates familiar scenes from Mother 3 using clay figures — a nod to the advertising of the first two games.

Speaking via DM, illustrator Omni Jacala tells IGN that the project took a team of 22 creators more than two years to produce. It included more than 90 characters, "hundreds of props," and more than 30 environments — all for a trailer that lasts just over three minutes.

Originally conceived back in 2015, work began on the project at the end of 2019. The team hoped to release the trailer in time for the 15th anniversary of the original game, but it wound up taking another year to "fully realize our vision," Jacala says.

Jacala says the team was inspired by Itoi's ability to "craft beautiful stories within the constraints of the limited hardware at his disposal." Like its predecessors, Mother 3 was a 16-bit RPG with colorful but otherwise relatively simple visuals. It gained fame in North America thanks to the way that it married mature themes with comic visuals, which in turn inspired a number of independent RPGs, mostly notably Undertale.

"The stories definitely speak to themes of family, friendship, coming of age—things that often have a profound impact on those who play it. The many let's players who have played the game can certainly speak to that," Jacala says. "On top of that, I think that the original games being in that sort of top-down, classic RPG style makes it necessary for players to use their imaginations to fill in the gaps. And that’s not to discount Itoi's writing at all, but something about primitive graphics leaves room for the imagination to elevate the experience above what we see on the surface."

The team decided to use clay figures to "fill the gap" with the first two games. "The Mother/Earthbound series is well known for the clay figures that were produced to promote the first two games. However, the creators of the game never made clay models for the third game, so we felt there was a need to sort of fill a gap, so to speak. We felt that going for a stop-motion aesthetic akin to the likes of Studio Laika or Aardman Animations would be appropriate to carry on the tradition of the figurines," Jacala explains.

If you've never played Mother 3, you needn't worry too much about spoilers. In choosing the scenes to depict from the game, Jacala says that the team went with moments that don't have as much significance without context. The result is a trailer that gives viewers a feel for Mother 3 without ruining its biggest surprises.

Curiomatic's trailer is part of an going wave of appreciation for the Earthbound series that recently included the release of Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings for Nintendo Switch. As the only game in the series to not get a North American release, Mother 3 has been hotly-requested by fans over the years, to the point that former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé joked about the constant requests for a translation. Even Terry Crews has asked for it.

In the wake of last week's Nintendo Direct, we're no closer to an official release for Mother 3, but Curiomatic's imagined remake can let us dream.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

CrossfireX's executive producer has apologized for the game's launch state that included several issues including poor connection to matches and controller sensitivity fluctuation.

In a developer update, CrossfireX executive producer Sooro Boo acknowledged the studio had disappointed many of its fans by releasing the game with these issues saying, "It’s clear that we have inadvertently disappointed many of our players and fans that have stuck with us for a long time.

Attention, Mercenaries,

We are aware of the issue that some Game Pass members are unable to access Operation Catalyst.

We are currently working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience and we thank you for your patience and the feedback. pic.twitter.com/IeRj86Cq18

— CrossfireX (@PlayCrossfireX) February 10, 2022

Mr. Boo's developer update offered a more in-depth look at some of the issues currently afflicting players including how players were experiencing a random fluctuation of dead zones, input delay, acceleration instability, and aim dropping in their controllers; balance issues for the Boogieman kill streak; and issues where the CAR-4 ADS gun stopped the player aiming down sights while firing.

At launch CrossfireX's official Twitter page also spent time to address other issues players were encountering including long queue times, campaign availability on Xbox Game Pass, and more.

All of these will be addressed in patches coming soon according to Boo, but there's no word on when the other problems may be fixed.

CrossfireX was released on February 10 and headlined the games coming to Xbox Game Pass this month. You'll have to wait a bit longer for our official review, but in IGN's preview of the game's campaign we mentioned "CrossfireX doesn’t really seem to be bringing much to the table."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.

CrossfireX's executive producer has apologized for the game's launch state that included several issues including poor connection to matches and controller sensitivity fluctuation.

In a developer update, CrossfireX executive producer Sooro Boo acknowledged the studio had disappointed many of its fans by releasing the game with these issues saying, "It’s clear that we have inadvertently disappointed many of our players and fans that have stuck with us for a long time.

Attention, Mercenaries,

We are aware of the issue that some Game Pass members are unable to access Operation Catalyst.

We are currently working to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience and we thank you for your patience and the feedback. pic.twitter.com/IeRj86Cq18

— CrossfireX (@PlayCrossfireX) February 10, 2022

Mr. Boo's developer update offered a more in-depth look at some of the issues currently afflicting players including how players were experiencing a random fluctuation of dead zones, input delay, acceleration instability, and aim dropping in their controllers; balance issues for the Boogieman kill streak; and issues where the CAR-4 ADS gun stopped the player aiming down sights while firing.

At launch CrossfireX's official Twitter page also spent time to address other issues players were encountering including long queue times, campaign availability on Xbox Game Pass, and more.

All of these will be addressed in patches coming soon according to Boo, but there's no word on when the other problems may be fixed.

CrossfireX was released on February 10 and headlined the games coming to Xbox Game Pass this month. You'll have to wait a bit longer for our official review, but in IGN's preview of the game's campaign we mentioned "CrossfireX doesn’t really seem to be bringing much to the table."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale.

It's been nearly 40 years since the release of Back to the Future, but the DeLorean remains cool as ever thanks to its beautiful industrial design and gull-wing doors. Now it's officially coming back, and it's going electric.

In a teaser revealed shortly before the Super Bowl, the DeLorean Motor Company teased the return of the iconic car. "The Future was never promised," the tweet reads. "Reimagine today."

The Future was never promised. Reimagine today.
Sign up for the premiere of the DeLorean in 2022.
https://t.co/K9n8D1s5uK#DeloreanEVolved#Delorean#Auto#ElectricVehicle#Luxury#BigGame pic.twitter.com/99HsGLCswb

— DeLorean Motor Company (@deloreanmotorco) February 13, 2022

It's accompanied by a 15 second video featuring the silhouette of the familiar gull-wing doors. The accompanying hashtags reveal that it will be an electric vehicle while suggesting that it will have a focus on luxury.

The announcement marks the return of the famous but short-lived car, which only lasted between 1981 and 1982. Cool as it looked with its stainless steel body, the DeLorean was infamous for being underpowered. The original DeLorean Motor Company went bust in 1982.

The DeLorean was already out of production by the time it made its debut in 1985's Back to the Future, but Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi hit made it instantly iconic among movie fans.

"The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" Doc Brown famously asked Marty McFly before taking it for a test drive in the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall (later the Lone Pine Mall).

It's unclear how faithful the new DeLorean will be to the original, though one assumes that it won't deviate too far from its classic design. It's set to debut sometime in 2022. With paradox-free time travel potentially being proven possible, maybe we can finally make Doc Brown's dream a reality.

While you wait, check out the Back to the Future screenwriter's answer to one of the film's most infamous plot holes, as well as our list of 20 actors who were replaced during their movie's production.

It's been nearly 40 years since the release of Back to the Future, but the DeLorean remains cool as ever thanks to its beautiful industrial design and gull-wing doors. Now it's officially coming back, and it's going electric.

In a teaser revealed shortly before the Super Bowl, the DeLorean Motor Company teased the return of the iconic car. "The Future was never promised," the tweet reads. "Reimagine today."

The Future was never promised. Reimagine today.
Sign up for the premiere of the DeLorean in 2022.
https://t.co/K9n8D1s5uK#DeloreanEVolved#Delorean#Auto#ElectricVehicle#Luxury#BigGame pic.twitter.com/99HsGLCswb

— DeLorean Motor Company (@deloreanmotorco) February 13, 2022

It's accompanied by a 15 second video featuring the silhouette of the familiar gull-wing doors. The accompanying hashtags reveal that it will be an electric vehicle while suggesting that it will have a focus on luxury.

The announcement marks the return of the famous but short-lived car, which only lasted between 1981 and 1982. Cool as it looked with its stainless steel body, the DeLorean was infamous for being underpowered. The original DeLorean Motor Company went bust in 1982.

The DeLorean was already out of production by the time it made its debut in 1985's Back to the Future, but Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi hit made it instantly iconic among movie fans.

"The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" Doc Brown famously asked Marty McFly before taking it for a test drive in the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall (later the Lone Pine Mall).

It's unclear how faithful the new DeLorean will be to the original, though one assumes that it won't deviate too far from its classic design. It's set to debut sometime in 2022. With paradox-free time travel potentially being proven possible, maybe we can finally make Doc Brown's dream a reality.

While you wait, check out the Back to the Future screenwriter's answer to one of the film's most infamous plot holes, as well as our list of 20 actors who were replaced during their movie's production.

Hideaki Anno's Godzilla, Evangelion, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider are joining forces for an MCU-style collaborative project called "Shin Japan Heroes Universe."

As reported by Kotaku, the newly announced project was launched by Toho Studios together with Khara, Tsuburaya Productions, and Toei in a bid to connect all the movies bearing the "Shin" prefix in their titles. The project's official website launched with a colorful new visual drawn by Mahiro Maeda, featuring the four figureheads of the Shin Japan Heroes Universe.

The website also featured a black and white emblem logo for the Shin Japan Heroes Universe, depicting the heads of the four heroes at the center of the "SJHU" acronym. The graphic was designed by Yutaka Izubuchi who will "will color the launch of this large-scale project" alongside Maeda, as the new era begins to move forward in 2022.

It's currently unknown exactly how this project will take shape, though the Anime News Network noted that events, merchandise, and other tie-ins are being planned as part of the collaboration. More details about the Shin Japan Heroes Universe and its wide range of developments will be released this year, according to Tsuburaya Productions.

Shin Godzilla, released in 2016, was co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay written by Anno. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time was released last year, with Anno at the helm. Anno also wrote Shin Ultraman, which will be released in Japan in May 2022, and he is also writing the upcoming Shin Kamen Rider, which will follow in March 2023.

The upcoming Ultraman film is directed by Shinji Higuchi, who co-directed 2016's Shin Godzilla with Anno. The movie will reportedly cover the story of the original Ultraman, capturing the charm of the original show that aired from 1966 to 1967, while also giving the titular character a chance to be "reborn" in modern day society.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Hideaki Anno's Godzilla, Evangelion, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider are joining forces for an MCU-style collaborative project called "Shin Japan Heroes Universe."

As reported by Kotaku, the newly announced project was launched by Toho Studios together with Khara, Tsuburaya Productions, and Toei in a bid to connect all the movies bearing the "Shin" prefix in their titles. The project's official website launched with a colorful new visual drawn by Mahiro Maeda, featuring the four figureheads of the Shin Japan Heroes Universe.

The website also featured a black and white emblem logo for the Shin Japan Heroes Universe, depicting the heads of the four heroes at the center of the "SJHU" acronym. The graphic was designed by Yutaka Izubuchi who will "will color the launch of this large-scale project" alongside Maeda, as the new era begins to move forward in 2022.

It's currently unknown exactly how this project will take shape, though the Anime News Network noted that events, merchandise, and other tie-ins are being planned as part of the collaboration. More details about the Shin Japan Heroes Universe and its wide range of developments will be released this year, according to Tsuburaya Productions.

Shin Godzilla, released in 2016, was co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, with a screenplay written by Anno. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time was released last year, with Anno at the helm. Anno also wrote Shin Ultraman, which will be released in Japan in May 2022, and he is also writing the upcoming Shin Kamen Rider, which will follow in March 2023.

The upcoming Ultraman film is directed by Shinji Higuchi, who co-directed 2016's Shin Godzilla with Anno. The movie will reportedly cover the story of the original Ultraman, capturing the charm of the original show that aired from 1966 to 1967, while also giving the titular character a chance to be "reborn" in modern day society.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.