Just a few days ago, it was announced that a Lord of the Rings TV series is in early development, to be produced by Amazon Studios. With Game of Thrones ending next year, this could be just the thing to fill the fantasy-void sure to be left in many viewers hearts. Now, given the sprawling lore of Tolkien’s seminal work, it is tough to say where in Middle-Earth’s history this show will fall.
Well, who better to take a stab than Sam himself? In a recent interview with EW, Sean Astin — who plays the hunky Bob in the latest season of Stranger Things — was asked his opinion on a Lord of the Rings TV series.To start, he finds the project “Intriguing”, and went on to say:
“I’ve been saying for 15 years…maybe like 12 years after Lord of the Rings came out, that it would get remade. And people always said, ‘Oh no, it’ll never get remade! It’s a classic! They could never top it!’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’ll get remade. It’s a massive story! The characters are so beloved…The challenge would be, could [Amazon] find some team to do it that they could let to their thing, or are they going to squat on it? It’s hard to make a TV series like this by committee.”
He also had an idea of where he would like to see the series take place: “The Mines of Moria are referred to a lot in Lord of the Rings. And I guess in the Hobbit trilogy, you spent a little bit of time with them, but the culture of the dwarves in the mines… I would love to see like five hours of that.”
It’s a really great time to be a fan of fantasy. With the Game of Thrones spin-offs in the works, a Kingkiller Chronicles series being developed, and also a TV series based on Robert Jordan’s sprawling Wheel of Time of Time fantasy series, there will be no shortage of epic fantasy on television over the next several years.
SEE ALSO: Sean Astin originally auditioned for a different part in Stranger Things season 2
There is currently no deal set in stone for the Lord of the Rings project at this time, as Amazon Studios are still in early talks with the Tolkien Estate. With that said, a release date announcement might be as far away as a stroll to Mt. Doom.
…You can find Jordan on Twitter, and Facebook.
Originally published November 8, 2017. Updated December 18, 2019.
