'Multiple' new Lord of the Rings films in the pipeline

Warner Bros have confirmed that more Lord of the Rings films are on the way over the next few years.

The original films, whose stars included Sir Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom, took about £2.5bn ($3bn) at the box office.

The news was announced by Warner Bros chief executive David Zaslav.

It cost an estimated £800m to make and follows life in Middle Earth thousands of years before the books and films are set.

Work on the second series began in October last year.

Swedish gaming company Embracer Group bought the adaptive rights to author JRR Tolkien's work last year - including Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

It means that should any film, game or merchandise deal be struck, they will gain revenue from it and have to be included in the development process.

In a statement to Variety, Peter Jackson and his collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens said Embracer and Warner Bros had "kept us in the loop every step of the way" about potential new films, adding:

"We look forward to speaking with them further to hear their vision for the franchise moving forward."

Guinchard said in a statement that the company would be "bringing the incomparable world of JRR Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways".

It is expected that the new films will cover content from books, rather than re-visiting the previously released films.