{"id":419152,"date":"2026-02-11T03:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/419152\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T03:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T03:04:10","slug":"4-upcoming-fantasy-movies-that-could-be-better-than-the-lord-of-the-rings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/419152\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Upcoming Fantasy Movies That Could Be Better Than The Lord of the Rings"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to fantasy<\/a> movies, the Lord of the Rings<\/a> films are hard to top \u2014 and considering that the first one is officially 20 years old, it\u2019s impressive they\u2019re still some of the genre\u2019s best offerings. Peter Jackson\u2019s Lord of the Rings movies<\/a> are often regarded as the standard for fantasy on the screen. They capture everything that makes the category great, blending a high-stakes battle between good and evil with gripping action sequences, heartfelt character moments, and truly stunning sound and visuals. <\/p>\n

The original trilogy successfully captures the epic nature of J.R.R. Tolkien\u2019s story, and it\u2019s hard to think of films that compare, even among the best fantasy titles out there<\/a>. With budgets growing and technology improving, it\u2019s surprising there haven\u2019t been many releases that rival The Lord of the Rings in recent years. (To be fair, many of the big fantasy projects of the 2020s<\/a> have been on TV.) A few contenders are coming, though, and they could even be better than the 2000s films if done properly. <\/p>\n

4) The Odyssey<\/p>\n

\"MattImage via Universal<\/p>\n

Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey is one of the most-anticipated movies of 2026<\/a>, and in terms of quality, it could very well surpass The Lord of the Rings. With The Odyssey\u2018s star-studded cast<\/a> and massive $250 million budget (via THR<\/a>), it\u2019s clear Universal is sparing no expense on the film. Nolan has yet to produce a bad movie, making it even more likely that The Odyssey will be a success. From what we\u2019ve seen so far, it looks every bit as epic as The Lord of the Rings. It also has a solid foundation thanks to its source material, though Homer\u2019s Odyssey probably doesn\u2019t hold the same nostalgic value for many readers. With that in mind, its ability to top LOTR will depend on whether it can invest viewers emotionally, in addition to delivering on action and suspense. <\/p>\n

3) Mistborn<\/p>\n

\"VinImage courtesy of Tor Books\/Macmillan<\/p>\n

Fantasy lovers have been waiting for Brandon Sanderson\u2019s Cosmere<\/a> to come to the screen for years now, and Apple TV is finally making it happen. While The Stormlight Archive will be a TV show<\/a>, Mistborn will become a film \u2014 and depending on how it turns out, it could prove better than The Lord of the Rings. As Mistborn Era 1 holds a special place in many readers\u2019 hearts, seeing it brought to life will likely be as thrilling as Tolkien\u2019s work getting a proper adaptation. Mistborn also has the twisty narrative, action, and lovable characters to appeal to fantasy lovers and newcomers, giving it more potential to become a mainstream hit. Apple TV needs to release it on the big screen, not just as a streaming movie, for it to truly reach the heights of Jackson\u2019s trilogy. Fingers crossed that it does. <\/p>\n

2) The Will of the Many<\/p>\n

\"TheImage via Simon & Schuster<\/p>\n

Because the fantasy book is a near-perfect masterpiece<\/a>, The Will of the Many has ensnared many readers since its 2023 release. It\u2019s an epic behemoth of a story, and it seems destined to become a modern fantasy classic. It\u2019s possible Sony Pictures\u2019 adaptation<\/a> will improve upon the source material, which could put it on the same level as \u2014 or even above \u2014 the Lord of the Rings films. The book\u2019s scope is certainly epic enough, and its immersive world and timely themes are likely to win people over (assuming the adaptation closely follows the book). It\u2019s hard to say if The Will of the Many will appeal to viewers less familiar with fantasy. For that reason alone, it\u2019s questionable if it will top LOTR, at least in terms of financial success. It could be stronger in terms of quality. <\/p>\n

1) The Game of Thrones Movie<\/p>\n

\"DaenerysImage Courtesy of HBO<\/p>\n

The movie that seems the most likely to surpass The Lord of the Rings is the untitled Game of Thrones film announced back in 2024 (via THR<\/a>). It\u2019s not entirely clear what the project will be about, but the Song of Ice and Fire franchise is nearly as well-known and massive as The Lord of the Rings. This makes it likely that audiences will flock to theaters to see this, whether they\u2019re merely fans of the original show or diehard followers of everything George R.R. Martin releases. Given that HBO\u2019s franchise is already successful, this film is unlikely to have many budgetary constraints. It will look the part of an epic fantasy masterpiece, though the story details could make or break it. It\u2019s also unclear how Netflix\u2019s Warner Bros. deal will shake things up<\/a>. If the project goes forward, it\u2019s bound to be as huge of a deal as Jackson\u2019s movies. <\/p>\n

What do you think? Leave a comment below\u00a0and join the conversation now in the\u00a0ComicBook Forum<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When it comes to fantasy movies, the Lord of the Rings films are hard to top \u2014 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,8244,88254,2839,9068,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-419152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-fantasy","tag-list-feature","tag-movies","tag-the-lord-of-the-rings","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}