Lord of the Rings TV show

I want to see the "council of Elrond" scene done faithfully to the book. You know... with all of the races of Middle-Earth represented.

I figure it should only take the first half of Season 2.

 

That's my favorite chapter of FotR. That's also the chapter where my wife decided it wasn't worth finishing the story.

 

OK, I've had a little look at the original agreement, plus a little investigation about the Rankin-Bass productions.

The relevant wording in the 1969 agreement is:

“The sole and exclusive rights to make one or more sound, silent, talking and/or musical motion picture photoplays based upon the Work or any part thereof of any type now or hereafter known, including but not limited to animated cartoon versions.”

For this the Tolkien's were to be paid a total of $250,000 per adaptation, plus 7.5% of the gross (minus reasonable production costs). $250,000 doesn't sound like a lot now, but it wasn't bad in 1969, and it was to be paid again and again for every future adaptation. In addition, the producer of the adaptation had the rights to make a sequel (or other related work based on the characters and places mentioned in the novels) within a certain timeframe. The time frame for New Line expires on 6 December 2017. Note that most news reports said that the Tolkien's sold the rights for $100,000 - that is quite incorrect, and I don't know how that amount was derived. Earlier reports (from the beginning of the millenium) had even claimed a figure as low as £10,000, which was obvious nonsense. This Forbes article does get the dollar amount correct, but still misses the point that the amount was for each adaptation: Amazon's $250M 'Lord Of The Rings' Purchase Price Is 1,000 Times What Tolkien First Got For It

Note that Ian Fleming sold the film rights to the ENTIRE BOND SERIES for 1/5th of that value!

The Rankin-Bass productions do not mention Saul Zaentz, or his company, Tolkien Enterprises, in the credits. You might wonder why, since Saul Zaentz bought the film rights rights in 1976 from United Artists. The answer seems to be that Rankin-Bass obtained the rights in 1972, apparently under a separate deal, while Tolkien was still alive. This makes sense, as it is otherwise hard to understand how both Ralph Bakshi and Rankin-Bass could have been doing adaptions of Tolkien at the same time. So this would have been a special television-only deal covering both The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings. Rankin-Bass always intended on making a second film, the rights to which were evidently included in their deal.

 

I found this update on the LOTR Series:
Everything We Know about Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Series So Far

It looks like it will focus on a young Aragon in the years prior to the War of the Ring.

Aragorn was much older than he looked, 88 years old by the time the books started, so there should be plenty of material there.

 

Amazon are currently in the middle of negotiating with New Zealand over whether they will film there. It will not be filmed in or around Wellington and as such Amazon have some concerns as to whether New Zealand can deliver the infrastructure.

 

and the rehashing continues

'Lord of the Rings' Creative Team Set at Amazon

Here's who's doing what on Lord of the Rings for Amazon:
• Executive producers Lindsey Weber (10 Cloverfield Lane), Bruce Richmond (Game of Thrones), Gene Kelly (Boardwalk Empire) and Amazon's former head of genre Sharon Tal Yguado
• Writer/executive producers Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad), Jason Cahill (The Sopranos) and Justin Doble (Stranger Things)
• Consulting producers Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones) and Stephany Folsom (Toy Story 4)
• Producer Ron Ames (The Aviator)
• Writer/co-producer Helen Shang (Hannibal)
• Writing consultant Glenise Mullins.
• Costume designer Kate Hawley (Suicide Squad)
• Production designer Rick Heinrichs (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)
• Visual effects supervisor Jason Smith (The Revenant)
• Tolkien scholar Tom Shippe
• Illustrator/concept artist John Howe

Amazon has yet to formally confirm any casting on the series, though sources confirmed Markella Kavenaghwill play a role in it.

Amazon's Lord of the Rings commitment is believed to be for five seasons — plus a potential spinoff. Once production budgets, casting, writers, producers and visual effects are factored in, the total for the Rings series could hit $1 billion. Yes, $1 billion for a TV show.

 

Came to post the same.

The timing is curious, this week there has been lots of online take about D&D (Game of Thrones) being involved so Amazon releasing these details on a Saturday could be to dampen that talk.

People seem happy that John Howe is involved but I couldn't be less infused by his inclusion. I would have been far more interested in Ted Nasmith as his Silmarillion illustrations are brilliant.

Tom Shippey being involved will hopefully keep some sanity when writers want to head off on a tangent.

 

Exclusive Interview with Tom Shippey concerning LOTRonPrime

Interview with Tom Shippey. The mention of 20 episodes fills me with dread.

 

Too soon yet to compare it to Krypton...?