WB admits The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was fast-tracked to retain film rights

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim hasn't done well with fans or critics. On a $30 million budget, so far it has made $4.6 million at the US box office, and $5.7 million in the rest of the world, with a grand total of just over $10 million.

As the film looks more and more like a flop, Warner Bros. is gearing up its damage control, and according to Variety, the studio claims that the film was simply a fast-tracked project made so that it could retain the rights to The Lord of the Rings novels.

Retaining rights movies are perhaps more uncommon than in the past, but they're not exactly a shocking thing. As Hollywood becomes more focused on recognised IPs and franchises, then it stands to reason studios will want to keep hold of established works while they can.

If you want to read our thoughts on the new Lord of the Rings movie, you can check them out here.