Lord of the Rings - The possible Amazon tv show

[greenman]

I'm thinking police procedural. Bombadil goes to modern-day Los Angeles (of course, where else?) for some reason, and starts assisting the LAPD in solving crimes through the use of whomsical nonsense verse. There's a hot-but-workaholic no-nonsense female detective who nonetheless develops an unresolved (until about the fifth season) sexual tension with Bombadil. Medanwhile Barkliman has sold up in Bree and also moved to LA to open a Prancing Pony there, but now it's a strip joint. Although determined to make a running of his business, he can't help but be drawn into Bombadil's whacky schemes.

Possible title: Tra-la-la-lally, Way Down In The Valley

James Cordon as Lt Fatty Lumpkin.

[mothman]

The female detective has a smarmy-but-rich ex-husband (with who she had a daughter, now a pre-teen, the standard age for these situations on US TV shows) called Barrow Wight. Bombadil doesn't like him. Hilarity ensues.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'd like a Young Gandalf series. Something along these lines:

Voice Over: This Summer, see Gandalf like you've never seen him before.

Int. Inside one of the hobbits home. They all look terrified, one is crying, whilst another is being sick on the floor.

Hobbit: And...And what did you say to him?

Gandalf: I replied...We call it...The Aristocrats.

Comedy Record Scratch, etc, etc.

[bgmnts]

Surprised they're doing lotr and not The Silmarillion but I dont want either to be honest, odd purchase by Amazon.

[Glebe]

Content of Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series not so mysterious after all.

I can't imagine them coming up with completely new stories from scratch. The Tolkien estate wouldn't sanction that, surely?

[greenman]

So it could really be anything from climax of the first age to the second age with Numenor and the first war with Sauron to the northern war with Angmar(that did get setup in the Hobbit films) to events close to the start of LOTR with Aragorn, Gandalf, etc.

[Mobius]

Content of Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series not so mysterious after all.

I can't imagine them coming up with completely new stories from scratch. The Tolkien estate wouldn't sanction that, surely?

They've been doing that with the video games for years now, unless that's a different rule?

[Replies From View]

Immediately made me think of the R4 adaptation. In its original form the episodes were 30 min long.

1   The Long Awaited Party
2   The Shadow of the Past
3   The Black Riders
4   Trouble at The Prancing Pony
5   The Knife in the Dark
6   The Council of Elrond

etc

7       The Norps of the Grauniad
8       Depths of the Sanschied and the Sanschied's Son
9       Espionage at the Makeshift
10     Going Near Paisley
11     Time and Money

etc

[Glebe]

In historic move, Christopher Tolkien resigns as director of Tolkien Estate.

Crikey! This is quiet a development! Also, I just skimmed over this, but it's worth a look:

Tolkien Rights and the Amazon Television Deal – some insight.

[Mister Six]

Content of Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' series not so mysterious after all.

I can't imagine them coming up with completely new stories from scratch. The Tolkien estate wouldn't sanction that, surely?

I don't see how they'd have any say in it. If they own the rights to The Lord of the Rings books and the characters therein they can do whatever the fuck they want with them, unless the estate has demanded some clause stipulating creative control, which seems astoundingly unlikely.

The onto problems would be if they started bringing in stuff from books they don't have the  rights to, such as the Silmarillion. But that's easy enough to avoid.

Still, I can't imagine this idea pleasing anyone really. The Tolkein fans will moan that it's nothing to do with their beloved books and the man on the street has probably long since given up caring about the franchise.

[Glebe]

I don't see how they'd have any say in it. If they own the rights to The Lord of the Rings books and the characters therein they can do whatever the fuck they want with them, unless the estate has demanded some clause stipulating creative control, which seems astoundingly unlikely.

Hmmm, given how protective Tolkien's estate has always been, I'd actually be surprised if there wasn't some kind of stipulation regarding the characters and that... although it does seem like things are pretty much up in the air now, with recent developments.

They've been doing that with the video games for years now, unless that's a different rule?

Yeah, I suppose... although maybe they could have considered the games less significant and given them a pass?

[greenman]

Your talking a deal made back in the 60's of course but I wouldn't be surprised if the Amazon negotiations were basically getting an ok on something that could be viewed as a legal grey area ahead of time in exchange for some extra cash.

Theres talk of a very large $1 billion budget for the entire thing which would I'd imagine be enough to do the forging of the rings of power and fall of Numenor story. It will be interesting to see who they get involved as again I tend to think this is naturally more cinematic than Game of Thrones.

[poo]

Gary Baggins

[Glebe]

Amazon Middle-earth series to shoot in 2019, air in 2020.

NOVEMBER 25, 2017 at 2:11 AM BY ALTAIRA - Our friend, TheHutt, from the TORn discussion forums recently shared some interesting information from German site IGN.com: Amazon has revealed to them that shooting on the new Middle-earth series will begin in 2019, with the goal to begin airing the first episodes in 2020. The  2020 goal is designed to fill the void Game of Thrones will leave after the final season airs, likely now to be in 2019.

According to IGN, the series will air exclusively on Amazon Prime. Announcements related to the plot and casting will begin sometime in 2018.

If accurate, this news suggests that Amazon may be further down the road than we thought in deciding on which story-line(s) from J.R.R. Tolkien's universe they'll follow in the first season. Casting, location scouting, and other pre-production work requires a substantial amount of lead-time, not to mention writing a compelling script. That's quite a lot to accomplish and still be ready to start shooting in 2019 and airing in 2020. If that's the case, and they are further along than the initial press releases and reports hinted at, we'll all be hoping to get more substantial news sooner in 2018 than later. Read the full article IGN article (in German) here.

That's your lot.

[biggytitbo]

How many Gandalfs will there be in this? They'd be fools if they don't have at least 200.

[Glebe]

How many Gandalfs will there be in this? They'd be fools if they don't have at least 200.

Actually Biggy, you'll no doubt be delighted to learn that there are in fact two Sarumans in LOTR!

[biggytitbo]

2 is shite, they should have had at least 350 of them, using computers.

[thraxx]

In historic move, Christopher Tolkien resigns as director of Tolkien Estate.

Crikey! This is quiet a development! Also, I just skimmed over this, but it's worth a look:

Tolkien Rights and the Amazon Television Deal – some insight.

The Tolkein Estate is a 1984 volvo 240 i reckon. No wonder he wanted to get the fuck out.

[mothman]

2 is shite, they should have had at least 350 of them, using computers.

After a short period browsing the John Lewis app (get me) for bedlinen, I've been struck by quite how many possible shades of grey there are...

[Glebe]

2 is shite, they should have had at least 350 of them, using computers.

Tch, you're never satisfied, are you? If a film doesn't have at least twenty Spider-Mans you're not having it.

[thraxx]

Tch, you're never satisfied, are you? If a film doesn't have at least twenty Spider-Mans you're not having it.

You know that scene in the digitally remastered star wars when they chase the storm troopers into a room with fucking hundreds of storm troopers and then get chased by them?  Using that digital magic, they should remaster star wars again but with FUCKING HUNDREDS of Darth Vaders.  In every fucking scene.

[Glebe]

You know that scene in the digitally remastered star wars when they chase the storm troopers into a room with fucking hundreds of storm troopers and then get chased by them?  Using that digital magic, they should remaster star wars again but with FUCKING HUNDREDS of Darth Vaders.  In every fucking scene.

Just so long as they don't release an edition with a thousand digital Jar Jars.

[greenman]

You know that scene in the digitally remastered star wars when they chase the storm troopers into a room with fucking hundreds of storm troopers and then get chased by them?  Using that digital magic, they should remaster star wars again but with FUCKING HUNDREDS of Darth Vaders.  In every fucking scene.

All slightly different though, some only about 4 feet tall, some with an extra large codpiece, etc.

[Glebe]

They should throw in a few digital dracleas too. And a frankenstein.

[Glebe]

Sir Ian McKellen isn't willing to consider giving up his Gandalf role to a new actor just yet.

Hmmm...

[Colin Sanction]

Gary Baggins

Legend Gamgee surely?

[purlieu]

Given just how long and detailed the appendices to The Lord of the Rings are, there's a lot of scope for this. They even give an overview of a fair bit of Silmarillion stuff, so even though they don't have the rights to that book, some of it can be told. I'm surprised anyone was even considering that it'd just be the main story of LoTR again. Given that the bulk of the missing stuff from that was thrown haphazardly into The Hobbit, I can't imagine they'd even bother doing it again.

I'm hesitantly optimistic about it. With the right people in charge, it could be a really good telling of a sizeable chunk of the history of Middle Earth and if the Tolkien Estate actually like it, unlike the films, then there's always the possibility of them opening up talks to do the rest of The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin, etc.

It'll still probably be shit though.

And yeah, there are loads of epic fantasy stories to be told. It would take an absurd amount of work, and a really good editor, but The Wheel of Time would make a great series. GoT has shown that people can be entertained by more gritty/character-based fantasy as much as more overtly 'high' fantasy, and so Joe Abercrombie's First Law books could work well. There are plenty of other options. Instead we're getting LoTR appendices and GoT spinoffs. No surprises, really.

[Replies From View]

Just so long as they don't release an edition with a thousand digital Jar Jars.

True; they should definitely make a thousand of him using good old-fashioned puppetry techniques.

[Phil_A]

Found this old bit of press bumf earlier today.

COR!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7366375.stm

So it seems the original Del Toro plan was The Hobbit was going to be just the first movie, the second an entirely original story bridging the gap between that and LOTR.

GADZOOKS!!

My other take from this is that McKellen just wants to "be" Gandalf, perpetually. He doesn't care where.

FLIPPIN' ECK, TUCKER!

[Glebe]

https://twitter.com/theoneringnet/status/994348409573130241

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

Return to Middle-earth with Amazon, or play in the DC Universe?

You'd think Jackson would be sick to the back teeth of Middle-Earth by now (although he does have a copy of The Silmarillion -which I'm actually attempting to read again at the mo - cheekily lying in full view in this vid... so much for that suggestion that he was gonna direct and episode of Who, btw; it'd feel strange to have the movie cast involved, although I believe Ian McKellan said he'd be up for it if asked a while back. I would have thought Jackson would just have some kind of executive producer/consultant role if he was involved at all.

As to the DC gig, Jackson stated in some interview some time ago that he wasn't a big superhero fan. Hmmm.