“Gandalf, Warner Bros. is moving. Amazon’s forces are massing in the East; their eye is fixed on streaming-service domination” or something along those lines would have been uttered by Elrond when the news broke that an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was being negotiated by the studio and online streaming giant. Forgive us the geeky folly, but why would you want to reimagine something so recently perfected by Peter Jackson?
Well, now The Wrap have confirmed the Amazon deal, and a few details reveal that it won’t be a re-tread of the Frodo thread, instead it will explore original storylines that precede the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tomes, over a multi-series arc, with the potential for spin-offs.
Sharon Tal Yguado, head of Scripted Series at Amazon Studios said “The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen, we are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle-earth.”
“We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord of the Rings,” added Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”
SEE ALSO: Sean Astin finds the prospect of a Lord of the Rings TV series “intriguing”
So there you have it, one series to rule them all (you can have that one Amazon marketing team), but how would you like to see this unfold? As a loose adaptation of The Silmarillion? How about fleshing out the prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring? Or how would a domestic drama about Galadriel’s day-to-day life in Lothlorien? The possibilities are as endless as a walk to Mount Doom.
Originally published November 13, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
