The final installment of Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy, The Return of the King, has just officially nudged past the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office (see 'ROTK Poised To Pass $1B'), and studio executives all over the world are searching for the next fantasy blockbuster.  One of the first films to attempt to follow in the Rings' giant footsteps will be an adaptation of David Farland's The Runelords (1997), the first book in a fantasy series which has amassed some six million readers worldwide. 

Franchise Pictures is leading a group of four organizations preparing an $80 million film version of Runelords for a summer 2005 release.  A prominent director is currently negotiating with the Runelords' producers and an announcement is expected by next week.  The producers are also attempting to license an array of consumer products tied in to the new movie.

There are three more volumes in the Runelords series, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Wizardborn and Lair of Bones, so if Runelords is successful, the makings for a franchise are all in place.  But others are also attempting to fill the 'fantasy' void left by the Rings.  A German group is producing a new series of films based on the German legend, Die Nibelungen, an adaptation of Christopher Paolini's Eragorn is in the works, and New Line Cinema, which produced Jackson's LOTR saga, has its own post-Rings contender, His Dark Materials, a 2006 release based on Phillip Pullman's fantasy novels.