Last week, news emerged that Amazon was in talks with the Tolkien Estate and Warner Bros. Television in hopes to develop some kind of Lord of the Rings television series. Today, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Amazon has confirmed it will be moving forward with Lord of the Rings as its next TV series.
When reports first came out that Amazon was possibly tackling the grand fantasy series for its next big project, Amazon stressed that no deal had yet been reached. But now, Amazon Studios has announced that it has officially secured the global television rights to the Tolkien series. The streaming service has already outlined multi-season plans for its Lord of the Rings show.
In her official statement announcing the new project. Amazon Studios’ new head of scripted Sharon Tal Yguado said, “The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen. 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.”
Though some fans were skeptical when news first broke of Amazon’s potential plans for Tolkien’s work, the Tolkien Estate is notoriously strict on who it chooses to allow its rights to. It is at least initially encouraging that the Tolkien Estate trusted Amazon with the rights to Lord of the Rings.
Matt Galsor, representative for the Tolkien Estate, stressed the Estate’s enthusiasm for Amazon Studios’ plans for the series. “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,” he said. “Sharon 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.”
Amazon’s series will be set in Middle-earth whose storylines will take place before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. No decisions on writers for the series have been made as of yet. If this venture with Tolkien goes well, Amazon is also entertaining the possibility of a spin-off series.