Warner Bros and Amazon are teaming up to forge a brand new TV show, a show to rule them all, a show to find them, a show to bring them all and in the darkness bind them – it’s Lord of the Rings of course.
Warner Bros. Television have been negotiating with the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien to develop the show which will be based on the novels and released on Amazon, according to Variety.
The Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, is said to be personally involved in the negotiations – an interesting development considering he doesn’t normally involve himself in the deal-making side of the studio and one which presumably demonstrates his excitement in the project.
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Bezos is known to adore high-fantasy and science fiction so his involvement makes sense – it also falls in line with Amazon’s new strategy of developing shows with a potential for broad international appeal as opposed to niche programming.
We don’t know what Tolkien stories will be adapted but it’s likely to be the original Lord of the Rings books, which for those of you who don’t know, is a fantasy epic comprising of three doorstopper-sized books, telling the story of Frodo Baggins, a hobbit from The Shire in Middle Earth.
Frodo and his unlikely gang of hobbit friends find themselves on a quest to save the world from the Dark Lord Sauron, who seeks to reclaim the One Ring from Frodo and conquer all of Middle Earth.
There’s also the chance they’ll develop The Silmarillion – a book detailing the ancient history of Middle Earth – into a show and maybe even the Lord of the Rings‘ prequel, The Hobbit.
“The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” Sharon Tal Yguado, head of scripted series at Amazon Studios, said in a statement. “We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
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