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A musical version of J.R.R Tolkien's trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" is to open at London's historic Theatre Royal, Drury Lane next year, replacing the current smash hit "The Producers".

File picture shows Shaun McKenna (L), the author, and director Matthew Warchus at the gala premiere of the play in March in Toronto
© AFP/Getty Images/File Jim Ross

The 25 million dollar (13 million pound, 20 million euro) adaptation -- the most expensive musical in history -- will have its first night in London on June 19.

The play opened in Toronto, Canada, earlier this year to mixed reviews.

Director Matthew Warchus said of the production: "We have not attempted to pull the novel towards the standard conventions of musical theatre, but rather to expand those conventions so that they will accommodate Tolkien's material.

"As a result, we will be presenting a hybrid of text, physical theatre, music and spectacle never previously seen on this scale.

"To read the novel is to experience the events of Middle Earth in the mind's eye; only in the theatre are we actually plunged into the events as they happen. The environment surrounds us. We participate. We are in Middle Earth."

The curtain will come down on "The Producers", a stage version of the 1968 Mel Brooks film about a scam to make money from a musical flop, in January after more than two years in which West End box office records were smashed.

"The Lord of the Rings", first published in 1954 and 1955, has become one of the most popular works of non-fiction in the 20th century.

It has been translated into a number of languages and spawned three Oscar-winning films, video games and music.

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