![Hobbittown (New Zealand) p[image courtesy of Rob Chandler (Rob & Jules) wikimedia commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/11/3/660x290/b_502x220x82/hobbittown-new-zealand-pimage-courtesy-of-rob-chandler-rob-jules-wikimedia-commons_1671905.jpg "Hobbittown (New Zealand) p[image courtesy of Rob Chandler (Rob & Jules) wikimedia commons]")
With the great success of “Game of Thrones,” speculation has abounded about what the next great high fantasy TV series will be. Remarkably, according to Deadline Hollywood, “The Lord of the Rings” is being shopped around as a series. At one point HBO, Netflix, and Amazon were in the running as venues for the TV show based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. Eyebrows are being raised across the entertainment industry for a number of reasons.
Didn’t ‘The Lord of the Rings’ get made into a series of movies not long ago?
“The Lord of the Rings,” as the gentle reader no doubt knows, was made into three epic motion pictures at the beginning of the century, directed by Peter Jackson.
The films, which were a worldwide hit, were followed by three more movies based on Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.” The idea of a TV series from the same source material so soon has caused some consternation.
Also, the deal being shopped by the Tolkien estate will be between $100 million and $150 million a season and would not even include all of the characters. Nevertheless, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who has the deepest pockets of just about anyone on the planet, has taken a personal interest in such a project and is keenly interested in adding a high fantasy project to Amazon Studio’s content. Amazon already has a hit show in the form of the alternate universe series “The Man in the High Castle.”
More high fantasy exists besides ‘The Lord of the Rings’
Of course, if Bezos or Netflix (which also has been known to spend a lot of money on content) are interested, a lot of other source material exists along the lines of “The Lord of the Rings” or “Game of Thrones.” Raymond Feist’s “Riftwar” series and David Eddings’ “The Belgariad” would certainly do as the basis of a TV series.
Neither would contain some of the legal entanglements that “The Lord of the Rings” might entail. Neither book series has already been done for the big or small screens. One could probably pick up the rights for another high fantasy series for a little less than $100 million a season.
In any case, the idea of a “The Lord of the Rings” TV series is still in the initial negotiations stage.
When such a project would start going before the cameras, not to mention be available for viewing, is unknown at this time. However, whichever network, Amazon or Netflix, pick it up, they will likely use the LOTR high fantasy project as the basis for a big push to expand its subscriber base.
