Lord of the Rings - [Amazon] Spoilers

The Black Oil · 13-11-2017 9:22pm #1

Word popped up on this a few days ago. It's now confirmed as going ahead with Amazon, multi-season deal.

Amazon's LOTR series will be set in Middle-earth and explore new storylines preceding Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal includes a potential additional spinoff series.

THR

Don't think he knows about second breakfast. :pac:

Agent Coulson · 13-11-2017 9:26pm

Wow some crazy money going to be involved in the making of this.

Unearthly · 13-11-2017 9:28pm

Would have preferred Netflix getting it. Don't really rate any Amazon content yet

Agent Coulson · 13-11-2017 9:30pm

Some of the New Zealand sets still there from the Jackson films I think which may help with the making of the series.

I wonder will Stuart Townsend finally get his chance to play Aragorn :pac:

R777B · 13-11-2017 10:09pm

Think this could be excellent if is done right. All signs point to completely separate stories from LOTR so why is it being dubbed a LOTR Tv Show! Just for the headlines I guess.

The timing could be perfect, something massive and fantasy just after GOT.

CastorTroy · 13-11-2017 11:56pm

Never read the books but I'm just picturing a Life of Brian type story following a Hobbit which isn't Bilbo

AMKC · 14-11-2017 2:58pm

They should get Colm Meaney to play a part in it. He could be a wizard or a goblin lol. He turned down his chance to play a part in the films now is his change.

Clareman · 14-11-2017 3:28pm

I'm not sure what I think about this to be honest, the movies were almost perfect so the TV series is always going to be compared to it, then again it worked out well for Shooter.

titan18 · 14-11-2017 10:53pm

Says it's preceding it, so wonder would they take something from the Silmarillion. Something like Beren and Luthien could work quite well. If they were going more adventurous like the Fall of Gondolin or Numeanur.

R777B · 14-11-2017 11:01pm

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11/14/104393-contents-of-amazons-lord-of-the-rings-series-not-so-mysterious-after-all/

Interesting piece on the likely content

david75 · 08-02-2018 12:11am

Looks like Amazon are set to announce details of their LOTR series tomorrow.
They’ve paid a massive amount for the rights but no real info since the deal. Let’s see what happens.

The Black Oil · 17-05-2018 10:47pm

Internetz seems to think it'll be about young Aragorn to start with.

https://www.theringer.com/tv/2018/5/17/17364734/aragorn-lord-of-the-rings-amazon-series

Agent Coulson · 11-06-2018 8:25pm

‘Lord of the Rings’ TV Series Is Neither a ‘Remake’ Nor a ‘Whole New Thing,’ Amazon Eyeing New Zealand Shoot

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke spent three hours with J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandson Simon Tolkien talking about the studio's upcoming trip to Middle Earth.

When Jennifer Salke took over as the head of Amazon Studios earlier this year, she inherited the company’s most expensive and anticipated original offering to date: A television series based on “The Lord of the Rings” franchise. Salke didn’t strike the multimillion dollar deal between Amazon and the J.R.R. Tolkien estate, but she is fully committing to making sure her studio’s investment in Middle Earth pays off creatively and financially. A new report from Variety confirms Salke and her Amazon team are now looking for writers to work on the series.

Variety reports Salke spent three hours with J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandson, Simon Tolkien, to talk about Amazon’s plans for the franchise. The next step is getting the prospective writers in front of the Tolkien estate to see how it would like to proceed. Salke referred to the relationship between Amazon and the Tolkien estate as a “partnership” where the latter has say in the show’s vision. The deal Amazon landed with the estate gives it access to nearly all of the material in the Middle Earth saga (although not 100% of it).

“It’s a partnership,” Salke said of Amazon’s deal with the estate. “They have some lines in the play on this on strategy and on vision. The great news about that is that they’re actually really thoughtful and smart, as you would expect.”

As for what a “Lord of the Rings” television series will look like on screen, Salke said it’s still too early to tell. Rumors broke earlier this year the series would feature a young Aragon storyline, although Salke’s statement would suggest nothing is finalized at this point. The studio head said the only thing she knows for sure is the show will land somewhere between being completely original and being a faithful adaptation.

“It’s not a remaking of the movies, and it’s not a whole new thing,” Salke said. “It’s something in between. It’s not, ‘Oh, it’s “Lord of the Rings” but you don’t recognize anything in it,’ but it’s not totally familiar to you either. So it’s original.”

While Jackson has said he will not be involved with the series, Deadline reports that might not be completely true. Salke is reportedly figuring how Jackson might want to be involved. Jackson, who directed “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” film trilogies, probably won’t be a producer or a director on the show, but Amazon is eyeing a New Zealand production shoot so it can take advantage of the same locations used on the film and can have access to Jackson’s production and visual effects studios.

Expect Amazon to work on casting after hiring writers for the series. Head over to Variety for more on Salke’s transition into Amazon Studios.

http://www.indiewire.com/2018/06/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-not-original-new-zealand-1201973431/

Agent Coulson · 15-02-2019 5:33pm

Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series Lays Out Possible Direction, Literally

There is “no timetable” according to Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke for the launching of the streamer’s already much hyped series based on The Lord of the Rings, but it looks like there is a new way to find out what’s going on in the “darkest depths of Mordor,” to quote J.R.R Tolkien fans Led Zeppelin.

Having revealed a handful of social media handles for the JD Payne and Patrick McKay developed series earlier this week at TCA and teasing that they are “making great progress,” Salke and Amazon are now providing a map, literally.

Today online, the Jeff Bezos-founded company dropped the latest in a cryptic trio of inaugural tweets – and there may be some clues in the quest to discover what’s coming.

With a multi-season commitment in a rights deal with the Tolkien estate believed to be close to $250 million, the LOTR is based on the beloved fantasy novels. The LOTR series will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which produced the Peter Jackson directed Oscar winning LOTR movies.

Set in Middle Earth, as we can now see for sure from the map, the TV series is set to explore new storylines preceding Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring book

What does the new map tell us of which characters will pop up?

How will Peter Jackson be involved?

Where will it all go? What clues are there really?

One sharp eyed fan noted that the “map shows Middle-Earth post-war of wrath since Beleriand isn’t on it, meaning the show takes place in the second of third age.”

Tell us what you find – because, to quote the man who created the world of LOTR himself, as Amazon did:

https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime/status/1096409315282284544

https://deadline.com/2019/02/lord-of-the-rings-amazon-series-tweets-clues-map-jrr-tolkien-1202558299/

filters · 16-02-2019 9:24am

Lets not pretend , its going to be woeful, the same ideology that has made a mess of Doctor Who and Star Trek Discovery is going to be pushed hard in this adaptation, expect the worst and you won't be disappointed

flazio · 16-02-2019 9:27am

By "ideology" do you mean promoting inclusion and harmony?

filters · 16-02-2019 9:28am

flazio wrote: »

By "ideology" do you mean promoting inclusion and harmony?

Black elves, why?
Middle earth was at war, no inclusion and harmony there
Inclusion and harmony is BS, we all know it, if they made a TV series in the morning about General Custer and the battle of little big horn, does any one believe they would pack the ranks of Custer men with POC actors or would it just be white men going to try slaughter native americans?

pixelburp · 17-02-2019 1:20pm

Stick to the shows details, not soapboxing and conspracy theories. Thanks.

pixelburp · 20-02-2019 4:13pm

Getting back to reality, looks like secrets are being pretty aggressively guarded for now; feels a little like overkill for a decades old series of novels.

Also not particularly stoked about Jeff Bezos' apparently being fairly close to the project, unless the meeting with the Tolkien estate was just a once-off, meet & greet. CEOs should stay the hell away from the nuts and bolts of any creative process.

https://gizmodo.com/amazon-reportedly-has-lord-of-the-rings-writers-in-a-lo-1832744087

They’re down in Santa Monica. You have to go through such clearance, and they have all their windows taped closed. And there’s a security guard that sits outside, and you have to have a fingerprint to get in there, because their whole board is up on a thing of the whole season.

Agent Coulson · 20-02-2019 5:15pm

Bezos will turn into a James Bond Villain and destroy the world or the next Howard Hughes and destroy himself.

corkie · 07-03-2019 5:51pm

[polygon] Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show is set in the Second Age — here’s why that matters

Two tweets posted Thursday morning featured an expanded map of Middle-earth, notably including the island of Númenor, the civilization of Men from whom Aragorn descended, and which was destroyed thousands of years prior to the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. A link to a larger version of the map was accompanied by the text “Welcome to the Second Age,” referring to the centuries leading up to the Last Alliance of Elves and Men and the first downfall of Sauron.

is_that_so · 07-03-2019 5:55pm

corkie wrote: »

[polygon] Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show is set in the Second Age — here’s why that matters

Sounds more Silmarillion than LOTR. Probably the only way they'd get the 10 seasons they need to pay for it!

pixelburp · 16-04-2019 2:33pm

Apparently filming for this is beginning in August, in Edinburgh. A very historical city, with plenty of suitably medieval locations to pick from.

satguy · 16-04-2019 3:03pm

I think LOTR has been done to death, and I think Amazon might have looked elsewhere for that big hit. It is plain for all to see, Amazon crave a one big headline show.

When you think of how many top shows HBO have had, see below, You might understand why Jeff Bezos needs this big bang.
https://www.google.com/search?q=famous+hbo+shows&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIE839IE839&oq=famous+HBO+&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.6741j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Kirby · 17-04-2019 7:53pm

satguy wrote: »

I think LOTR has been done to death, and I think Amazon might have looked elsewhere for that big hit. It is plain for all to see, Amazon crave a one big headline show.

When you think of how many top shows HBO have had, see below, You might understand why Jeff Bezos needs this big bang.
https://www.google.com/search?q=famous+hbo+shows&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIE839IE839&oq=famous+HBO+&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l4.6741j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Game of thrones is huge. LOTR has some similar elements. Why are you surprised that execs would take a punt on it?

Besides, 6 movies over the course of 20 years is hardly "done to death". Sure marvel has done three times that amount in half the time and the public is still lapping it up.

is_that_so · 18-04-2019 6:35pm

Kirby wrote: »

Game of thrones is huge. LOTR has some similar elements. Why are you surprised that execs would take a punt on it?

Besides, 6 movies over the course of 20 years is hardly "done to death". Sure marvel has done three times that amount in half the time and the public is still lapping it up.

The problem with LOTR is that as a book it has a lot of very "quiet" moments. That didn't matter so much when Peter Jackson gave it his treatment, very well overall IMO. If they go for the book itself that's not going to give them an awful lot of television. It will also draw instant comparison with the trilogy. They seem instead to be delving back into the period of the much earlier incarnation though the Silmarillion. As there is a huge gap between that era and the LOTR timeframe that gives them plenty of licence to develop their own version of it.

Will it work? I'm not sure but there will be plenty of anal Tolkien heads to fall on it if it gets it wrong. I'm in the why bother camp on this as it looks more like an excuse to generate a multi-season epic to replace GOT.

keane2097 · 18-04-2019 6:59pm

is_that_so wrote: »

The problem with LOTR is that as a book it has a lot of very "quiet" moments. That didn't matter so much when Peter Jackson gave it his treatment, very well overall IMO. If they go for the book itself that's not going to give them an awful lot of television. It will also draw instant comparison with the trilogy. They seem instead to be delving back into the period of the much earlier incarnation though the Silmarillion. As there is a huge gap between that era and the LOTR timeframe that gives them plenty of licence to develop their own version of it.

Will it work? I'm not sure but there will be plenty of anal Tolkien heads to fall on it if it gets it wrong. I'm in the why bother camp on this as it looks more like an excuse to generate a multi-season epic to replace GOT.

It's already announced that the series is based on a small part of the Silmarillion.

is_that_so · 19-04-2019 10:38am

keane2097 wrote: »

It's already announced that the series is based on a small part of the Silmarillion.

There's always been a risk here with the idea. Even that may not fill enough seasons nor convince people to watch it. Straight out of the gate it is under pressure to deliver as there is a standard to compare it with.

TerrorFirmer · 19-04-2019 10:51am

I really can't see it being a GOT replacement either, presumably it being LOTR it's going to be a relatively family-friendly affair as opposed to a hard 'adult' show. I'm not saying adult content is essential to making a great show for all ages to enjoy, but part of what makes GOT so good is the sheer brutality in every sense of the word and incredibly adult themes (gratuitous nudity less so, but it has its place at times).

The closest thing to GOT right now is probably 'The Last Kingdom' really. Itself not dissimilar to Vikings but more grisly.

Agent Coulson · 22-05-2019 3:30am

Bryan Cogman who was a writer and producer on GoT has joined as a consultant.

Hoboo · 22-05-2019 3:37am

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Bryan Cogman who was a writer and producer on GoT has joined as a consultant.

Tell me he wasn't part of the last season of GOT.

Agent Coulson · 22-05-2019 3:50am

Hoboo wrote: »

Tell me he wasn't part of the last season of GOT.

He wrote episode 2 of the final season.

Hoboo · 22-05-2019 4:01am

Agent Coulson wrote: »

He wrote episode 2 of the final season.

Jesus. That was the worst, was close to switching it off.

derfderf · 22-05-2019 4:07am

Hoboo wrote: »

Jesus. That was the worst, was close to switching it off.

That episode was fine. The problem was there wasn't enough leading up to that episode to explain why it would happen.

The Black Oil · 15-07-2019 9:57pm

J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is directing the first two episodes.

https://deadline.com/2019/07/the-lord-of-the-rings-j-a-bayona-direct-amazon-series-juan-antonio-bayona-1202640048/

Unearthly · 15-07-2019 10:00pm

He's a good director. I know a lot of people hated the Jurassic world film he did but I think that was more plot issues

is_that_so · 15-07-2019 10:04pm

Unearthly wrote: »

He's a good director. I know a lot of people hated the Jurassic world film he did but I think that was more plot issues

It was also a pretty awful film to watch. If it was just plot issues then a screwup in this won't do him any favours.

is_that_so · 15-07-2019 10:06pm

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Bryan Cogman who was a writer and producer on GoT has joined as a consultant.

There is a risk with this "LOTR" that it will end up with all the bad habits of GOT. It really can't afford that at the price.

pixelburp · 15-07-2019 10:27pm

Fallen Kingdom had tonnes of flaws, but direction was not one of them;, what scenes did work were down to Bayona's tight, efficient handling and horror sensibilities. He was arguably the first since the Spielberg original to make dinosaurs threatening again. He'll suit LOTR well.

The Black Oil · 15-07-2019 10:32pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Fallen Kingdom had tonnes of flaws, but direction was not one of them;, what scenes did work were down to Bayona's tight, efficient handling and horror sensibilities. He was arguably the first since the Spielberg original to make dinosaurs threatening again. He'll suit LOTR well.

Make Palaeontology Great Again?

Mr Crispy · 27-07-2019 6:51pm

https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime/status/1155142047420080129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1155142047420080129&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfilm.com%2Flord-of-the-rings-tv-writers-and-crew%2F

Loafing Oaf · 12-08-2019 4:56pm

corkie wrote: »

[polygon] Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show is set in the Second Age — here’s why that matters

Further to this, Tolkien expert Tom Shippey, who is working on the series, says "the estate has refused to allow the series to be set during any period other than the Second Age of Middle-earth."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/09/amazons-new-lord-of-the-rings-cannot-use-much-of-tolkiens-plot
I'm actually happy about this because The Fall of Numenor is the only bit of the 'background mythology' that I really care for. Plus I think it's better to break away from the Hobbit/LOTR era completely rather than trying to fill in Aragorn's backstory or something.

Mr Crispy · 04-09-2019 8:02pm

Will Poulter cast in one of the lead roles (/Film)

Agent Coulson · 18-09-2019 10:14am

They announced that they are filming the series in New Zealand.

They will start filming in the coming months.

pixelburp · 18-09-2019 10:24am

Ostensibly good news, though thanks to WB pressuring NZ to hobble its labour laws (during the chaos otherwise known as the filming of The Hobbit), all those crews won't have the same protections they used to. Amazon not exactly known as the beacon of employee's rights either.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/oct/31/warner-bros-new-zealand-hobbit-film

</buzzkill>

Clareman · 18-09-2019 11:07am

I think I read somewher that Tolkein got a lot of inspiration for Middle Earth from his visits to Ireland, especially the Burren, I'm always disappointed that Ireland didn't get to be the base for LotR

Mickeroo · 18-09-2019 11:10am

Clareman wrote: »

I think I read somewher that Tolkein got a lot of inspiration for Middle Earth from his visits to Ireland, especially the Burren, I'm always disappointed that Ireland didn't get to be the base for LotR

It's only conjecture (though the tourist brochures don't point that out...) but apparently the cave system Poll na gColm in the Burren was where he got the name Gollum from. He definitely spent time in the area at least.

Agent Coulson · 19-11-2019 7:27am

Renewed for a 2nd season

In conjunction with the early renewal, the LOTR series will go on a 4-5-month hiatus after filming the first two episodes from Season 1, directed by J.A. Bayona. The writing team of the series, led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, will use the time to map out and write the bulk of Season 2 scripts.

Taking a break after the opening episode or two is standard practice for shows with straight-to-series orders as it allows producers and executives to step back and evaluate the footage much like they would do with a pilot. By going on a longer than normal hiatus, LOTR will be ready with Season 2 scripts so it could possibly film some Season 2 footage during the Season 1 shoot or even film the remainder of Season 1 and Season 2 back-to-back.

That was a strategy used by Peter Jackson in shooting his blockbuster LOTR movie trilogy, also in New Zealand. That is considered a sensible approach for big-budget productions like LOTR as it helps find efficiencies because every filming ramp-up is expensive. Additionally, by extending the hiatus, the series, which, in keeping with the Tolkien mythology is expected to shoot primarily outdoors, will return to production after the winter season in New Zealand is over.

https://deadline.com/2019/11/the-lord-of-the-rings-series-renewed-season-2-amazon-early-renewal-season-1-hiatus-writers-room-reassembled-1202788730/

TheIrishGrover · 19-11-2019 12:40pm

I would imagine that, given the mind-boggingly huge budget proposed that they will either fully commit to 4 or 5 seasons or whatever they had planned or not commit at all.

pixelburp · 19-11-2019 12:56pm

There any tentative release date on this? Feels like it's going to take a while for this to come out, maybe 2021 at a minimum before it shows up ...

Lady Spangles · 19-11-2019 1:33pm

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime/status/1155142047420080129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1155142047420080129&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfilm.com%2Flord-of-the-rings-tv-writers-and-crew%2F

It's great to see that Tom Shippey is involved in the project. What he doesn't know about Tolkein's universe isn't worth knowing.

Lord of the Rings - [Amazon] *Spoilers*

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Lord of the Rings - [Amazon] Spoilers