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Amazon (and Netflix) Pursue a 'Lord of The Rings' TV Series (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes The Verge:
Amazon Studios has been looking for a way to duplicate HBO's success with Game of Thrones, and the company may have found a solution: adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings into a TV series. Variety reports that the company is currently in talks with Warner Bros. Television and the late author's estate, and while discussions are said to be in "very early stages," it is clearly a high priority, with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos himself involved in the negotiations.
Amazon isn't the only one looking into the rights, according to Deadline, which reports that the Tolkien Estate is looking to sell the television rights to the iconic fantasy series to the tune of $200-250 million, and has approached Netflix and HBO as well. There appears to be some strings attached: the rights might not encompass all of the characters in the story. HBO has reportedly passed on the project.
"We can hear the pitch now," jokes The Verge. "It's like Game of Thrones, only with a series of books that are actually finished."
Amazon isn't the only one looking into the rights, according to Deadline, which reports that the Tolkien Estate is looking to sell the television rights to the iconic fantasy series to the tune of $200-250 million, and has approached Netflix and HBO as well. There appears to be some strings attached: the rights might not encompass all of the characters in the story. HBO has reportedly passed on the project.
"We can hear the pitch now," jokes The Verge. "It's like Game of Thrones, only with a series of books that are actually finished."
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see a reboot of Knight Rider done with a Google Maps car, a Tesla or something.
Just want to point out, they have rebooted Knight Rider a few times.
If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
So, no Tom Bombadil? Again?
Or Ghân-buri-Ghân?
I find it to be pretty awful, really. Tolkien just prattles on and on and on and on about a bunch of hyperbolic shit. Every location and creature is described in extreme detail only to be outdone by the next that's more fantastical, more evil, more ancient, a taller mountain inside a deeper pit, etc.. And here's a fucking song for no reason. And Hobbit food? It's like the scene in Forest Gump describing different types of shrimp, but it's not funny, nor is it interesting. It's just filler.
Some nerds call this shit "world building". I call it Tolkien loving the smell of his own farts.
It's not that Tolkien is a particularly interesting or gifted writer for the average reader that makes him such a draw. (let's face it, he's actually a little boring- although, I know millions will disagree with me). What makes Tolkien amazing and his works a landmark piece is that he pretty much created a very rich and dramatic genre and alternate universe all by himself. Sure, he took a lot from mythology, but he created a very vivid world different from others before him. Almost every fantasy author who has come along after Tolkien has stolen a little bit of Tolkien (or a lot of Tolkien) in creating their worlds. Most fantasy worlds ARE a rip-off of Tolkien in one way or another.
Tolkien's strength is not in his wordsmanship, it's in his creativity.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Not really. Copyright keeps getting extended, because Disney will do whatever it takes to prevent Mickey Mouse from going into the public domain. If we take the copyright on The Hobbit (published in 1937) as the benchmark, it doesn't expire until 2032, assuming it doesn't get extended again (which it likely will).