Amazon Is Making a 'Lord of the Rings' Prequel Series (techcrunch.com)

Amazon is making a Lord of the Rings prequel TV series for its Amazon Instant streaming service. The show, which already carries a multi-season commitment, will "explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring." TechCrunch reports: It's possible the new series will mine the ponderous but rich Silmarillion for material, as fan fiction writers and lore aficionados have done for decades. The exploits of the Elf-Lords of old would make for a stirring epic, while many would thrill at the possibility of seeing Moria at the height of its grandeur. So much depends on the quality of the adaptation, though. Amazon has been pretty good about its Originals, but this will be an undertaking far beyond the scope of anything its studios and partners have yet attempted. Amazon is partnering with New Line Cinema, which of course was the film company behind the much-loved trilogy that began in 2001, and the Tolkien Estate, as well as HarperCollins for some reason. The deal also "includes a potential additional spin-off series," presumably if it's popular enough.

Comments

Re:Peter Jackson

[xevioso]

I'm sure Perter Jackson's ears perked up at this announcement. He loves to put a lot of bloat into his movies, which translates well to TV. A lot of the stuff in NZ is probably still intact and would make for great sets I'm sure. The problem is that if they were to work with him he would probably demand a lot of benefits for NZ; the Hobbit movies were *expensive* but they made a ton, so...

Guilermo Del Toro was supposed to do the Hobbit before PJ took over, so they might be able to get him involved...

Re:Just more Piling On

[MightyMartian]

If they're actually going to the Silmarillion, then that could be something. It would be quite something to see Tuor's journey to Nevrast and meeting with Ulmo, Lord of the Waters, or Ungoliant's poisoning of the Two Trees, and Nírnaeth Arnoediad, the Battle of Unnumbered Tears, would make any other filmed fantasy battle look like a game of Stratego in comparison. Go to the Second Age, a full recounting of the Fall of Numenor would make for an extraordinary sequence.

But probably it will just be about young Thorin traipsing about Middle Earth, or Bullroarer's licentious joinings with busty Hobbit lasses.