Amazon to produce ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV show

Amazon has acquired the global television rights to adapt Lord of the Rings, based on the classic novels by JRR Tolkien, into multiple seasons.

The series will not follow the beloved story of Frodo and his friends, but rather new storylines set in Middle Earth preceding The Fellowship of the Ring. 

“Sharon [Tal Yguado, head of scripted series] and 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,” said Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins.

If all goes to plan, Amazon’s deal will include the potential for spin-off shows.

Peter Jackson’s cinematic adaptations of the novels — including the three-part prequel series The Hobbit — earned nearly US$6-billion worldwide.

Amazon has previously adapted Lynn Povich’s Good Girls Revolt and Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle. Anthology series Electric Dreams is also based on Dick’s works.

But despite Amazon’s relatively clean track record of book to series adaptions, some online are not excited by the prospect of more Lord of the Rings content.

Re: Amazon’s LORD OF THE RINGS series pic.twitter.com/GDBVLkx61R

— James Garcia (@thereeljames) November 13, 2017

amazon: prequel to lord of the rings coming soon 😉
fandom: don’t do this… please stop
amazon: pic.twitter.com/niAF2IhNZc

— georgia 💫 (@astudyinpinkk) November 13, 2017

me, an intellectual: “lord of the rings would thrive with the right kind of treatment in a serial format”
me, in the grips of my lizard brain: “THEY’LL RUIN IT BURN IT DOWN”

— Abraham De Lacy Guiseppe Casey Thomas O’Malley (@gayjamesbond) November 13, 2017

Featured image: Gwydion M. Williams via Flickr (CC BY 2.0, resized)