Despite what many people think, I do like to remain optimistic about things. I've been proven wrong too many times to think that initial impressions will always be the correct ones. So while my love of the original Peter Jackson LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy clouds my judgements, I will admit the idea of Amazon's upcoming LORD OF THE RINGS TV show isn't necessarily a terrible idea. I mean, the films had to cut out things (not much, but things for sure) that fans may wanted to see (like Tom Bombadil for some reason), and hell, maybe they're not even adapting the books, and focusing on the minutiae of the world? And it has just been announced that Amazon has agreed to a multi-season commitment, which I imagine will fill in a lot of gaps.
However, the craziest thing about this story is that Amazon paid $200-300 dollars for the rights alone! That's not even counting production costs (which are around $200 million by itself)! Amazon beat out Netflix and HBO for the rights, as Amazon has wanted their own GAME OF THRONES-style fantasy series for a while now.
Also, while nothing is set in stone, it does seem that the stories might be original, and not necessarily based on the original stories. Here's what Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins, said about the project:
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…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.
Does that mean they might be adapting THE SILMARILLION?
So what do you Schmoes think? You down for a LORD OF THE RINGS TV show? Either way, sound off below!
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