Amazon creating a Lord of the Rings Streaming series

[[deleted user]]

Amazon Sets ‘The Lord of the Rings’ TV Series In Mega Deal With Multi-Season Commitment.

I dunno about this. Amazon Prime has a bad case of Game of Thrones envy, but LotR is been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.

[EchoBaz(Unofficial World's Fastest Reader)]

I hope it's good.

[Martin]

I heard it will take place during the years between the End of The Hobbit and the beginning of the LotRs. That could be good!

[NekroRider]

Read about this yesterday and had a major eyeroll reaction. Nothing but another attempt to wring more money out of "the franchise".

[Cody]

The issue I have with this is that there are many other fantasy books which would work brilliantly, with the exception of readers, no one really knew GOT before the TV series and that is the biggest program ever, they do not need name recognition to get people watching grimdark novels

I think the black company got optioned so that someone can make a tv series if they want which is cool

[[deleted user]]

Haaze wrote: "It will be hard to beat Peter Jackson's and the LotR teams crafting the film trilogy. I wonder why Amazon went for a theme that has already been done so well? Why not create something new from all the great fantasy books that have never been approached in the media? ..."

[[deleted user]]

NekroRider wrote: "Just noticed there are two topics, heheh. But agree Haaze, would be much better to create something interesting out of another great series."

Interesting. I've heard of double-posting, but never triggered one myself before. Explains why I thought a previous reply disappeared, too, when it was just in the "other" topic. I've closed the other one and "moved" Haaze's post as best as Goodreads allows.

[[deleted user]]

Cody wrote: "The issue I have with this is that there are many other fantasy books which would work brilliantly, with the exception of readers, no one really knew GOT before the TV series and that is the biggest program ever..."

Good point. HBO made Game of Thrones a phenom, taking a risk with an expensive production. Amazon is hoping to buy a phenom. That also comes with a big burden of expectations.

[NekroRider]

Cody wrote: "The issue I have with this is that there are many other fantasy books which would work brilliantly, with the exception of readers, no one really knew GOT before the TV series TV series and that is the biggest program ever, they do not need name recognition to get people watching grimdark novels

I think the black company got optioned so that someone can make a tv series if they want which is cool."

Definitely agree with your general sentiment. Apparently Netflix is turning the Witcher into an English language TV series in 2018 though, which is pretty cool. Excited to see how it turns out. Would be nice to see more fantasy series turned into high quality mini-series or multi-season TV series.

[Emily]

Anyone know who currently has the rights to Wheel of Time? I’ve been hearing for years that it was going to be a TV series. I’d much rather watch that then see another rendition of LOTR.

[Allison]

NekroRider wrote: "Cody wrote: "The issue I have with this is that there are many other fantasy books which would work brilliantly, with the exception of readers, no one really knew GOT before the TV series TV series..."

For example, i'm t-h-r-i-l-l-e-d about the Name of the Wind adaptation with Lin Manuel Miranda.

Yeah. I think at this point my expectations are so high, and my saturation of LOTR is so complete that I want something new, unless it's guaranteed to be absolutely perfect. Someone do another beloved work, like Sabriel or something by Tamora Pierce or give one of the other epics a go. There's plenty of source material for any of those.

[[deleted user]]

Emily wrote: "Anyone know who currently has the rights to Wheel of Time? I’ve been hearing for years that it was going to be a TV series. I’d much rather watch that then see another rendition of LOTR."

Did you miss it when it was on TV in 2015 ?

[Andrea]

I wouldn't mind seeing movie versions of some of the other Middle Earth material like Beren and Luthien or the Children of Hurin, The Silmarillion, etc though I can see why they don't lend themselves well to it. But to have made up stuff that fills in the gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings? At least if I'm understanding the premise...I don't think Tolkien actually wrote down much about what went on during that time, so do I really want to watch a story that is just the setup to the real story? It'd be like watching someone setup a chessboard before the game.

But then I'm not on Amazon Prime anyway and won't sign up just for this :) Though if it were on TV I'd watch it anyway, just because I wouldn't be able to resist more Middle Earth.

[Caitlin]

I don't hate LOTR but I'm frustrated that Amazon decided to pick something that's already seen a fair amount of adaptation instead of another well-loved series that could have been brought to the screen. What I've liked about Netflix and HBO has been their willingness to try new stuff with TV instead of the constant sequels and expansions that movies have been doing. I could name at least five fantasy series off the top of my head that I'd rather see adapted to an Amazon show than a LOTR series that has to be squeezed between the material that's already been adapted.

[Michael]

I would normally chime in with the comment that only the rights to the Hobbit and the LOTR books themselves are available for movies or TV, but I read an announcement from Amazon that they have signed an agreement not only with the holders of the rights to the Hobbit and LOTR, but also with the Tolkein estate. I obviously know nothing about the details of that agreement, but it could well mean we will see some material from the "extended universe" of Middle Earth come to the screen.

I'm at least a little more excited about this project now!

[Cody]

just read about a book in another thread then this is exactly what poppd into my head when i read the lest 8 posts or so here

'OMG a Malazan tv series'

i dont think this could be done because of how huge it is (season one would be GOTM then the next is in an entirely different continent ith none of the same characters) but i would watch 20 seasons of that

i am not sur how well a big budget fantasy would do thinking bout it, GOT was basically 2 stories, medievil political and fantasy, that is why they could kill people for so long but cant anymore.

also the fantasy has been very paring until recent seasons, i do wonder how a full on fantasy as i and others suggested ealier would go? LOTR is basically the most popular fantasy ever so got away ith it.

i realise this post is a litle disjointed

[Silvana]

Martin wrote: "I heard it will take place during the years between the End of The Hobbit and the beginning of the LotRs. That could be good!"

Hmm do you have a source on it? Sources I had only mentioned pre-LOTR.

Between The Hobbit and LOTR there are not many exciting stuff....http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Timeli...
except maybe Sauron going to Mordor and build Barad-dur and so on

[Andrea]

There's Gandalf running around trying to figure out if the ring that Bilbo found is actually the One Ring. But that's even sort of covered during the Hobbit movie when he's investigating the Necromancer.

I don't really see enough material for a movie let alone a series. The Hobbits are oblivious so unless you just want cute daily life episodes, the Dwarves are possibly fighting things but that part is ignored even in the core LotR except to explain why we only run into Gimli. The Elves are probably aware of some things but doesn't look like they really do anything until LotR gets going, and even then they just sort of hide away.

Guess Saruman is being converted to the dark side, could show how that came about, if it didn't start even before the Hobbit timeline.

Basically the only ones doing interesting things are the villains :)

[[deleted user]]

The Tom Bombadil Adventure Hour ?

[Haaze]

They should do it in a reverse perspective so we root for the orcs and their ilk. The "evil" elves and dwarves continuously harass them and cause problems for the "good" realm of the orcs.

[Hillary]

Andrea wrote: "But to have made up stuff that fills in the gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings? At least if I'm understanding the premise...I don't think Tolkien actually wrote down much about what went on during that time, so do I really want to watch a story that is just the setup to the real story? It'd be like watching someone setup a chessboard before the game." Agreed.

I will give whatever they churn out a go, but I am not excited by this news.

When I first saw the news, one of my first thoughts was re: Christopher Tolkien's reaction, & I'm now reading that he's officially announcing his retirement from the Tolkien estate.

[Haaze]

It will probably be a mutated creation in a similar vein to the current Shannara Chronicles....

[Cody]

Hillary wrote: "Andrea wrote: "But to have made up stuff that fills in the gap between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings? At least if I'm understanding the premise...I don't think Tolkien actually wrote down much a..."

if i am wrong i apologise but Christopher Tolkien (CT) published everything post LOTR?

if hat is the case i believe the tv series might be beter for it. from what i have read, the post LOTR books were basically CT publishing JRRs notes that were not ready for readers.

JRR assembled his notes and made them readable, CT published his notes, that was my opinion ith silarillion and Hurin, i tried to read others also but it did not go well

[Hillary]

Cody wrote: if i am wrong i apologise but Christopher Tolkien (CT) published everything post LOTR?

if hat is the case i believe the tv series might be beter for it. from what i have read, the post LOTR books were basically CT publishing JRRs notes that were not ready for readers."

I'd agree the post-LOTR books aren't scintillating reading, but that didn't bother me b/c they never seemed to be trying to be novels, just published notes. They seemed to be more about filling in the LOTR worldbuilding backstory for the curious, or to foster a richer critical discussion of LOTR.

I think Christopher's handling of the estate was more about not licensing watered-down cash-cow projects, which I definitely feel could have tarnished JRR's legacy.

[Andrea]

I also viewed them as a collection of historical documents, like an archive the the Elves maintained. Reading LotR is the equivalent of reading Historical Fiction, while reading the Silmarillion is the equivalent of reading a Historical Textbook. I really enjoyed them when I read them from that perspective.

Now those documents could be converted to novels (which people have done with things like The Tudors, or The Borgias), which Christopher Tolkien attempted with the longer segments like the new Beren and Luthien, or the Children of Hurin, but unlike LotR that covers a short period of time (its about a year no?), the Children of Hurin spans decades, and that would be hard to convert to a movie because there are large periods where characters are just wandering the woods feeling sorry for themselves or hiding out with the Elves.

So there's a very good reason JRR didn't publish them, but I'm still happy Christopher went ahead and did it anyway :)

But I'm a little worried if the estate is now allowing others to "play" in the world. Look at what happened to Conan. Or how many terrible Dracula books/movies are out there. Or Sherlock Holmes. Just think of how all those characters had their mythology muddied (Dracula can actually walk around perfectly fine in daylight, but after all the movies everyone assumes he bursts into flames). I already cringed at the filler needed to turn the short Hobbit novel into three epic movies.

[[deleted user]]

I saw an article today that gave the series a date of 2021. I guess that's only 3 years, sounds like more for some reason.

Amazon hopes to get Lord of the Rings series to audiences by 2021

[Lori]

Emily wrote: "Anyone know who currently has the rights to Wheel of Time? I’ve been hearing for years that it was going to be a TV series. I’d much rather watch that then see another rendition of LOTR."

There was a really super bad episode on youtube of a wheel of time, I believe first episode, whomever owned the copyright to make it into a tv series was about to lose it so they had to hurry up and create an episode so that they didn't lose it. Its painful to watch! So badddddddddd!!

[Michael]

G33z3r wrote: "I saw an article today that gave the series a date of 2021. I guess that's only 3 years, sounds like more for some reason.

Amazon hopes to get Lord of the Rings series to audiences by 2021"
Ouch! I'm getting to the age when long lead times like that really start to worry me... ;-)

[Andrea]

I don't mind so much if there's a long lead time to the first of something (whether it's book or TV series) but once you've hooked your fan base I think it's unprofessional to just leave them hanging for years at a time.

Although even there, some cases are still ok. Take the Cumberbatch Sherlock Holmes series. It's episodic so you aren't really left hanging at the end of a season, it could stop anywhere. So the fact it doesn't come out on a regular schedule doesn't matter, the new stuff is just bonus.

[David]

I'm just not really looking forward to this. I agree with what others have said, there's so much outstanding material out there in the fantasy world. I'll wait for those adaptations to be released before I get excited.