When we spoke with Philippa Boyens, celebrated producer of ‘The Lord
of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogies the first thing she mentioned is that she’s the proud holder of an Irish passport. She tells us that her family comes from Ballyshannon in Donegal, no doubt her Irish roots hold some influence for her journeys into Middle Earth…
Boyens has co-written several of Peter Jackson’s films, including the Academy Award winning ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, ‘the Hobbit trilogy’, ‘The Lovely Bones’, ‘Mortal Engines’, and the 2005 remake of ‘King Kong’. Now the New Zealand writer and producer brings us a new original film opening in Irish cinemas on Dec 13th, “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”, which returns audiences to Middle Earth, based on the revered books by J.R.R. Tolkien.
In our interview Philippa chats about writing this brand new adventure in Middle Earth and how the legendary director Kenji Kamiyama inspired her writing….
WATCH THE INTERVIEW
Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, this new animation 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 become 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.