There has been a slight murmur in the Hollywood rumor mill, that came true today. Amazon and Warner Brothers Pictures have been in negotiations about a potential The Lord of the Rings spinoff series. Today Amazon confirms the news, stating that the series is moving forward. With a ton of unexplored writings on the fantasy world of Middle Earth, created by J.R.R. Tolkien, there will be plenty of material to pull from.
In a press release earlier today, Amazon Studios head on scripted series Sharon Tal Yguado spoke about the excitement brewing over the new trip back to Middle Earth:
“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.”
There is a lot of tales that Tolkien wrote that took place before The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The studio will most likely try to keep the One Ring as the series main protagonist, but how this will happen remains to be seen. I would guess that Amazon will try adapting The Silmarillion. This is a famous Tolkien work that has yet to be touched by Peter Jackson in the previous films.
There is no mention of when the series would premiere. Tal Yguado says that “the television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring”, and that the potential for additional spinoffs is a possibility. Matt Galsor, a rep from the Tolkien estate, added to the release saying that the series would delve into “previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”
This is great news for Tolkien fans. No release date is set for the new series.
