Licensing

1936
Stanley Unwin mails J.R.R. Tolkien a signed duplicate contract for The Hobbit to be published.
1958
J.R.R. Tolkien and Rayner Unwin agree to grant American businessmen, Forrest J. Ackerman and Morton Grady Zimmerman an option on the film rights to The Lord of the Rings for six months to allow an agreeable script to be developed. A script was not agreed upon and the option expired in early 1959.
1962
J.R.R. Tolkien and Allen & Unwin enter a contract with William Lawrence Snyder of Rembrandt Films to make a film adaptation of The Hobbit.
1967
In a last minute attempt to avoid Snyder's licensing rights to expire, The Hobbit short film is released.
1969
United Artists acquires the film, television, stage, and merchandising rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings from author J.R.R. Tolkien, who retains book publishing rights, as well as television rights.
1976
The Saul Zaentz Production Company acquires film and other rights for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings from United Artists.
1977
The Saul Zaentz Company forms a d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises.
The first animated film by Rankin/Bass, The Hobbit is released.
1978
Saul Zaentz produces the animated film The Lord of the Rings, directed by Ralph Bakshi.
1980
The second and the last animated film by Rankin/Bass, The Return of the King is released.
1981
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) acquires United Artists and through this way it obtains distribution rights to film adaptations of The Hobbit.
1982
Melbourne House publishes the first video game based on works by Tolkien, The Hobbit.
1986
George Allen & Unwin merge with Bell & Hyman in to form Unwin Hyman.
1987
Mithril Miniatures is founded, creating licensed metal miniature figures inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
1990
Unwin Hyman is purchased by HarperCollins.
Interplay Productions aquires the video game rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and it publishes the videogame J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
1997
The Saul Zaentz Company options their film rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to Miramax Films.
1998
New Line Cinema purchases the film options for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit from Miramax.
2000
Vivendi acquires the book rights for video games to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, while Electronic Arts acquires the film rights for video games only of The Lord of the Rings film series.
2001
New Line Cinema releases The Fellowship of the Ring, co-produced and directed by Peter Jackson.
2002
New Line Cinema releases The Two Towers.
2003
New Line Cinema releases The Return of the King.
2004
Electronic Arts releases The Battle for Middle-earth, a real time strategy game under a joint license with New Line Cinema and Tolkien Enterprises.
2005
Tolkien Enterprises enters a renewed era of licensing with the worldwide popularity of the Peter Jackson films. New Line and its parent company, Warner Brothers, release a flood of merchandise based upon film assets, under license from Tolkien Enterprises, which enters into new license agreements for merchandise based exclusively upon the Tolkien literary property, including for board games, videogames, jewelry, figurines and other collectibles.
2006
Electronic Arts acquires and the book rights and it releases The Battle for Middle-earth II video game.
The Lord of the Rings (musical) stage play premieres in Toronto, Canada. A Kevin Wallace Ltd. production under license from Tolkien Enterprises.
2007
27 March - Electronic Arts extends its publishing license for video games with New Line and Tolkien Enterprises.
Turbine releases an MMO videogame based on the literary property only, The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) under license from Tolkien Enterprises.
18 December - New Line and MGM announce the development of a two-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
2008
New Line Cinema merges with Warner Bros. and through this way it obtains distribution rights of The Lord of the Rings film series and co-production rights of The Hobbit film series.
8 May - Electronic Arts announces The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, developed by Pandemic Studios.
2009
January - Electronic Arts' publishing licence for video games based on The Lord of the Rings expires, returns to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
13 January - The Lord of the Rings: Conquest is released.
28 May - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces a long-term partnership with The Saul Zaentz Company and New Line Productions, Inc. for literary and film rights to develop and publish games based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is announced, developed by TT Fusion and Headstrong Games.
2010
Tolkien Enterprises changes its name to Middle-earth Enterprises.
Turbine is purchased by WB Games, and thus WB Games obtains access to LOTRO rights.
18 March - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, developed by Snowblind Studios in association with Middle-earth Enterprises.
14 December - The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is released.
2011
30 May - New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM announces the titles of Peter Jackson's two-film adaptation of The Hobbit. The first film is titled The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the second film is titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
1 November - The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is released.
2012
30 July - New Line, MGM and Warner Bros. Pictures announce that Peter Jackson's two-film adaptation of The Hobbit will now become a trilogy.
31 August - New Line, MGM and Warner Bros. announce the second film of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy to be retitled as The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The third film is titled The Hobbit: There and Back Again.
4 December - Guardians of Middle-earth, developed by Monolith Productions is released.
28 November - Premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
2013
12 November - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. A new game set between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, developed by Monolith Productions.
25 November - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group announces LEGO The Hobbit, based on the first two films of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
2 December - Premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
2014
8 April - LEGO The Hobbit is released.
24 April - Warner Bros Pictures, MGM and New Line Cinema announce that the title of the third film of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy to be renamed as The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
30 September - Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is released
1 December - Premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
2016
The rights to LOTRO are sold to Standing Stone Games.
2017
27 February - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developer Monolith Productions announces Middle-earth: Shadow of War, a sequel to Shadow of Mordor.
10 October - Middle-earth: Shadow of War is released.
13 November - Amazon purchases global television rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit from Tolkien Estate and announces the production of a series through a partnership with the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. This includes multiple seasons and potential spinoff series.
2019
25 March - The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is announced by Daedalic Entertainment, partnered with Middle-earth Enterprises.
2020
15 June - NetEase and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announce the development of a new officially licensed mobile strategy game The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War.
2021
10 June - New Line Cinema partners with Warner Bros. Animation on an original anime theatrical feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
24 August - Wizards of the Coast announces The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth. A set for the Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond series.
23 September - The Lord of the Rings: Rise to War is released.
2022
9 Feb - The Saul Zaentz Company puts their Tolkien property up for sale. These include rights to motion pictures, video games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
17 May - Amazon acquires MGM for $8.5 billion, which includes distribution rights to The Hobbit.
18 August - Embracer Group acquires Middle-earth Enterprises from The Saul Zaentz Company.
The first season of the first licenced television series, The Rings of Power, is released.
2023
23 February - Embracer Group, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures forge a multi-year agreement to collaborate on features based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
2 March - The Watermill Theatre announces The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale, a musical stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. In association with Kevin Wallace for KWL (Kevin Wallace Limited) and Middle-earth Enterprises.
10 May - The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, a turn-based RPG published by Electronic Arts and developed by Capital Games is released.
15 May - Amazon Games reaches an agreement with Embracer Group to develop and publish a new massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on The Lord of the Rings.
25 May - The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is released.
8 June - The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, a survival crafting video game set in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth is announced. Developed by Free Range Games and published by North Beach Games.
23 June - The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth is released.
25 July - Premiere of The Lord of the Rings: A Musical Tale.
21 September - Tales of the Shire is announced, developed by Wētā Workshop and published by Private Division.
24 October - The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is released.
2024
9 May - Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema announces two new feature films from Tolkien's Middle-earth. The first film is The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum (working title).
24 May - The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth discontinues development.
13 December - Premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.
2025
29 July - Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game is released.
2026
24 March - Warner Bros. announce the development of The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of the Past, the next film after The Hunt for Gollum.

1. Esta ficha se ha importado inicialmente de TolkienGateway.net el día 27/05/2026.