The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series

Something of an update:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/how-lord-rings-tv-series-landed-at-amazon-not-netflix-1099213

Key bits:

* Five season commitment
* Amazon must be in production within two years
* "Amazon may use material from the films" so Warners/New Line are involved, per mentions up above
* Jackson's involvement would be his choice; his lawyer "recently helped start a dialogue between Jackson and Amazon"
* Theoretically the Weinsteins could still try and get some cash. They are, however, strangely occupied at present.

* Five season commitment

uh-oh

I hope that jackson will only 'choose' to get involved if he feels passionately motivated by the material, since we have learned to our woe what garbage ensues when he isn't really feeling it

I...would not mind this.

I just want to say, as someone who rereads Lord of the Rings every two years, has seen all the films dozens of times, and once wrote a college term paper in Elvish, I would give a lung to run this show. Maybe even one of mine. @Netflix https://t.co/umKFr96jXE

— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) April 8, 2018

I have no idea whether Straczynski's mid 80s run on Spider-Man was good or not but I grew up with it so he is near to my heart.

Wasn't he behind crappy show HEROES?

Heroes was Tim Kring and Jeph Loeb.

Given JMS's best known for doing what was basically LOTR In Space, he does seem like the logical choice. Declaring his interest on Twitter does seem a bit of a "play" though, as it's bound to garner enough positive fan response that he can say "Ahh, you have to give me the gig now as all these people think it's a good idea."

I have no idea whether Straczynski's mid 80s run on Spider-Man was good or not but I grew up with it so he is near to my heart.

typo? He didn't write Spider-Man til the '00s

and it was not good

also he tagged Netflix instead of Amazon in that tweet

I can sense deems's utter delight from here:

Decisions are being made by Peter Jackson and his NZ crew:

Return to Middle-earth with Amazon, or play in the DC Universe? pic.twitter.com/tjF7B0PSAX

— TheOneRing.net (@theoneringnet) May 9, 2018

http://i.imgur.com/GoRGDoE.gif

hi ned i knew this would be u and me

"We're not that different, you and I."

If anyone itt has not seen that set of video essays (which eventually blossoms into a full-on doc) on why the Hobbit movies sucked and the corporate fuckery surrounding their production, they're really worth your time. Goes from a less unsavory RLM type deal to something very different.

Yeah, it's really great. I'd recommend the third part even to those who don't care much about LOTR.

links?

Simon H., searching YT gives me two multi-part series on The Hobbit movies, one by Lindsay Ellis and one by The Nigerian Prince. Is it one of those?

Lindsay Ellis, and it's three parts (for obvious joke reasons)

I'm watching these now instead of working and it's great

Yeah that was pretty entertaining/informative, Callen's a good catch for it. (Kind of the perfect guy, really, since he's the oldest of all that group of actors and clearly into a DGAF mode in general.) Only thing I'm not sure about is that she didn't seem to tie in the delays due to MGM's debt fuckup as supposedly stretching things out so much that that factored into del Toro's departure; the case she makes treats the two as wholly separate when my understanding is otherwise. Beyond that, great work.

We got news

[BREAKING] We have confirmed from multiple sources that @AmazonStudios new billion-dollar #LOTR series will open its first season centered on a young Aragorn.

Let's discuss whats available and how this opens up Tolkien's Legendarium. A thread. #Tolkien
/1 pic.twitter.com/mfbkf4jyX6

— TheOneRing.net (@theoneringnet) May 16, 2018

This essentially means a move to the initially mooted plan for The Hobbit where that was going to be one film and the second film would have been this era.

they should cast stuart townsend as aragorn

Better yet, Arathorn, and have him die in the first ten minutes.

cool that they picked the least interesting angle

You were preferring a first season discussing how Old Toby came by the plant instead.

didn't ever think they'd go full Silmarillion

young smeagol or gtfo

yung smeagol is my elvish rap name

yung smeagol is my elvish rap name

was hoping for a show where a grizzled old detective has to settle petty grievances between hobbits

meanwhile The Ringer just described Aragorn as "the Jon Snow of Tolkien's fantasy saga" and I want to die

dance in the dark and i sing to the morning light!
imagine the runes write in gold to bring the balance
at least, the sun is shining, the clouds of blue and white
with flames from the dragon of darkness, the sunrise blind delight
bring it back!

back, at last

o now o!

writ in gold :)

xxxp i have called gandalf "lotr dumbledorf" because i couldn't remember his name

dumbledore

Clear as mud, and yet.

https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/06/peter-jackson-lord-of-the-rings-amazon/

I had a phone conversation with Amazon on that one — I think that was over a year ago and it sounded like they were doing the right thing [with the show], they have very good intentions with it, it all sounds very fascinating and exciting. However, I would not want to be the one responsible for the entire TV series, simply because I’ve never been responsible for a [long-term] series like this before in my life. So it would not be very smart if I took on the role of showrunner. What I’m actually doing right now is putting the creative team [behind the series] together.

giant eagles to pick this fuck up and drop him into hawaii thx

But Mortal Engines

which looks ok from the snippet i saw tbh

More info.

https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/jennifer-salke-lord-of-the-rings-amazon-1202840237/

Salke inherited a number of projects in the works, none bigger than a forthcoming series adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings,” the subject of a massive deal last year that Bezos involved himself personally in. According to Salke, that deal only officially closed last month. But Amazon has been meeting with writers. Salke herself spent three hours with Tolkien’s grandson Simon Tolkien, and the next step is for representatives of the Tolkien estate to meet with writers.

“It’s a partnership,” she 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.”

The Tolkien deal covers most, but not all of the material connected to the author’s Middle Earth saga. Salke said that it is still too early to say what shape, exactly, the series will take. But, she added, “It’s not a remaking of the movies, and it’s not a whole new thing. 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.”

They have some lines in the play on this

Is that a real expression?

In Santa Monica? Why not.

Hmm.

“I wisely started with a map” — J.R.R. Tolkien

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 13, 2019

Also

Amazon @PrimeVideo #TCA19: @AmazonStudios head Jen Salke says there has been "great progress" in developing #TheLordOfTheRings series but there's no news to report.

— Michael Schneider (@franklinavenue) February 13, 2019

Just do the Children of Hurin already!

Could work...

I mean at least young Aragorn has a general arc and path to follow if that's still the initial goal, thanks to the appendices.

you can't hurry...hurin

I just have to wait?

Real heads know 1st Age > 3rd Age.