Decipher just acquired the license to release trading card games based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Here is an excerpt from the official news release:

The agreement with New Line grants Decipher rights to all three motion pictures: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of the King (2003). A parallel agreement with New Line and Tolkien Enterprises also grants Decipher the same category rights for all of the literary properties related to The Lord of the Rings. This far-reaching deal gives Decipher the opportunity to explore in depth the entire universe of The Lord of the Rings for an initial period of six years, with a renewal right for an additional five years. The agreement also grants Decipher an option to develop trading card games and digital trading card games from The Hobbit (the trilogy's literary "prequel") and any new eventual Hobbit motion picture.

More from the news release:

While details of the games were not announced, it's safe to say that Decipher intends to use the film (and photo-realistic images generated in house on their state-of-the-art Silicon Graphics systems) to illustrate both the physical trading card game and its digital counterpart. Both versions of the game are scheduled to launch at about the same time, which should be very close to the opening of the first movie in December 2001. As Warren Holland said in his announcement, "The future of film and the future of trading card games are about to be forever redefined with a new standard of excellence."

For the complete news release, please go here.