LOTR Possible Amazon Series
http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-amazon-1202606519/
shareI have mixed feelings about that.
share
MovieChat Forums > The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Discussion > LOTR Possible Amazon Series
They should be remaking "The Hobbit", not LOTR!
shareThe fact the Tolkien estate is involved in the discussions is highly intriguing to me, because it could mean that The Silmarillion is in play. The rights to LOTR and The Hobbit were sold years ago, so I don't know that the estate would need to be at the table otherwise.
The Sil would make a fantastic, multi-season cable series. With the tremendous success of Game of Thrones and its looming conclusion, I could see it being a very attractive prospect for a studio looking for the next big thing.
I don't think that the Sil would make a good miniseries. Not to rehash old fandom arguments, but it's have to be seriously rewritten to make it palatable to mass audiences, some ongoing characters that humans can identify with added to the story.
Which would, if course, piss off the fandom that would hopefully form the core audience. I doubt the idea of a Sil series would get beyond Development Hell.
I don’t think it would necessarily need to be rewritten as much as it would need to be fleshed out. The Sil is mostly like an outline without a lot of specific narrative. People could argue about what PJ decided to change (or add, especially in The Hobbit) from the books, but someone adapting the Sil has no choice but to make additions. I think it’s a much better choice than creating brand new characters and stories (although the immortal elf and wizard characters from The Hobbit/LOTR could be utilized).
sharePersonally I think that the end of the Second Age would make absolutely smashing entertainment. Sure it's all written like an outline, but with some good writing and spectacular effects couldn't Sauron's seduction of Ar-Pharazon while Elendil tries to save the Faithful be great?
But that era barely gets any attention within the fandom, and the mainstream doesn't know it exists. They don't know about the first Age either, but that what the fans always expect to be filmed and it's just unworkable as a whole. Generations of immortal elves fight a god-monster and dying off and being succeeded by their children... that sort if thing doesn't work on film.
Why not do both? Over a few seasons, they could take it from the creation of the world right up to The Hobbit. The Second Age would indeed be terrific but the First Age includes a lot of amazing stories:
Fingolfin battling Morgoth one-on-one
Hurin's story, capture and torment by Morgoth
Turin Turambar's tragedy
Gondolin and its fall
The whole tale of the Silmarils themselves, including Beren and Luthien's story, Earendil's journey to Valinor to ask the help of the Valar
and of course the ultimate - War of Wrath
Sorry, geeking out here big time.
I really don't think the story of the War of the Silmarils would work as mainstream entertainment, because as o keep saying there's no protagonist they humans can identify with - no Samwise the Hobbit swept into terrible events, no Strider the ranger trying to go from wanderer to king.
There's no character like that in the Sil, nobody the audience can live and identify with, and believe me that's absolutely necessary for a story to work on film - there has to be a Harry Potter or a Bilbo for us to follow. In the Sil the good guys die off, and they're all immortal elves anyway. Beren, the only human that audiences could possibly identify with, doesn't come along until quite late in the saga.
I'm sorry, but any fan who thinks that the Sil would make a miniseries doesn't understand film.
There are several other Tolkien stories (if I remember correctly) from Middle Earth some published, some not that they could work with. That would be cool. If they are going to try to write original stories, that makes me a bit nervous. Who can write like Tolkien? Both in language and story he was one of the best.
shareIts not the Silmarillion unfortunately, its set before the war of the ring in the third age, new stories and new characrters invented by fanboys not worthy to polish Tolkien's boots most likely.
shareI agree with you. Bad move on their part. There are incredible stories in the Sil, written by the man himself.
shareThird age, huh?
I wonder what they're going to base the story on. I mean a lot happened in the 3rd age and it's all in the appendicies - the fall if Moria, the rise if Dol Guldur, the ruin of Arnor, the founding if Rohan, etc. None of it is as epic as the re-rise of Sauron, none of it can be. That was the single most important event of the Age.
I still think the end of the second age would make a fab miniseries, but I guess they've bought the rights to the stuff in LOTR but not the Sil, which dies pretty much limit them to the 3rd age.
It's going to need are really great soundtrack. TV miniseries are not the same as cinematic trilogies or sagas that span over three to seven films. PJ's LOTR in itself was a daunting task not just with the story adaptation but the cinematic translation of both characters and story lines. From what little details offered from this newsfeed I am very curious as to why they are only focusing on the timeline in the 3rd Age right before the Lord of the Rings story/Hobbit takes place. The Silmarillion doesn't seem to be in play in this story so that leaves out more intriguing origin stories, particularly the story behind the Dunedain and Westernessj. Time will tell.
shareThis is cool, but sign me up for a War of the Last Alliance of Men and Elves series, preferably done in the same universe as Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movies.
shareThat would be part of it, like season 4 or 5. The Sil actually covers the entire timespan of Tolkien’s world, including the events in LOTR.
shareSadly the Last Alliance material doesn't seem to be available under the terms of the copyright they bought. Sure, it's in the appendicies, but there's much more detail in the Sil.