Lord of the Rings TV Series Purchased by Amazon

[Corvus]

Yeah, I'm getting bad vibes already.

But this just makes it far, far worse.

Just as Tolkien entrusted his quest to Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, Amazon chose two unlikely newcomers. McKay and Payne are high school friends from northern Virginia who have been writing in Hollywood together for 13 years. The Rings of Power is their first credited IMDB listing. They know—it’s astounding to them too. “We’ve worked on so many projects with so many awesome and exciting people that never got made or worked on things that did get made and we didn’t get credit,” says McKay. “We were a little bit of a dark horse. And Amazon talked to absolutely everybody—whoever had any idea for Lord of the Rings.” Adds Payne: “We were passionate about the material and had a take that matched Amazon’s appetites and ambition.” They also apparently had a significant champion in J.J. Abrams, who knew them from their writing on a Star Trek movie and reportedly sang their praises.

So two unknowns are running a half billion dollar (or was it a billion dollar?) show with nothing but Abram's vouching for them. Seriously, something of this size, with such a large fanbase, and you give it to someone with no track record?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Seriously, something of this size, with such a large fanbase, and you give it to someone with no track record?

Corporations do not do things to make money. They can leverage debt to keep themselves afloat forever. The corporations have been converged by people who only care about pushing their agenda. No one who produces stuff that pushes the agenda will ever not find work in Hollywood. In fact, they will be rewarded with more work. They will fail their way up. Writers routinely fail their way to the title. You need to accept that there will be no negative consequences for these people.

[jonnysensible]

Corporations do not do things to make money.

10/10 for a stupid statement. Their purpose is to turn a profit.

This is amazon so its just a bezoz toy funded by AWS so he gets invited to media events and parties but still..this agenda stuff is mental incel nnonsense

[Kithelle]

Looks like stereotypical 202X fantasy tv show #1589. Disappointed.

Well if the rumors are true and they plan for sex/nudity in this show, I think that's what they're going for...it's easier to be like everyone else than actually putting effort and being creative.

Because everything these days has to be gritty, extremely violent, and filled with sex....because they must think everyone is a edgelord

[Surfd]

I'm willing to make the safe bet that much like WoT, there's going to be gratuitous amounts of sex and violence because "Game of Thrones".

That's not a bet, that's a fact. Last year we heard that there was going to be a sex scene coordinator.

I wouldn't take that bet. Someone on another forum I am on posted a quote from a Vanity Faire article:

So will there be Westerosi levels of violence and sex in Amazon’s Middle-earth? In short, no. McKay says the goal was “to make a show for everyone, for kids who are 11, 12, and 13, even though sometimes they might have to pull the blanket up over their eyes if it’s a little too scary. We talked about the tone in Tolkien’s books. This is material that is sometimes scary—and sometimes very intense, sometimes quite political, sometimes quite sophisticated—but it’s also heartwarming and life-affirming and optimistic. It’s about friendship and it’s about brotherhood and underdogs overcoming great darkness.”

If that's true, there is no chance in hell there is going to be tits and gratuitous sex if they are marketing the show to be appropriate to a 11-13 age demographic. If there is going to be sex in the series, it's going to be tame as hell.

[VinceVega]

Am i the only one who is looking forward to the show? And not get completly tilted because of a casting call or the skin color of a few actos in a fantasy show?

If your are that bothered just don't watch the show. Easy as that. But i guess outrage culture does not allow this. So you watch it. Make them more money by doing so. And the be even more outraged, that they get more seasons which you are watchign also just to get even more angry... Meanwhile amazon doesn't care WHY you watch it.

[Muxtar]

Well, this woke shit is going to destroy another fantasy icon. If you have read LotR closely, you would notice that Frodo and Sam talked about rumors, that somewhere in the south there are oliphants, and 'men with skin dark as coal'. This means that in the region where Frodo and Sam lived and where they wandered (pretty damn the whole north of Middle-Earth), there was NO black-skinned men (even less elves), and they were quite a wonder for white-skinned inhabitants of realms of Gondor, Arnor, Shire, elven kingdom etc etc.
But somehow in the Second Age there are appeared dark-skinned elves and dwarfves, and no one gives a fuck. And in the Third Age there are suddenly no black men again (I am talking about 2001-2003 Jackson movies).

Thanks god that acclaimed movie trilogy was released in early 2000s, when there was none of this woke shit that ruins movies today.

[DarkAmbient]

Those pictures, fucking kek.

[Yadryonych]

But somehow in the Second Age there are appeared dark-skinned elves and dwarfves, and no one gives a fuck. And in the Third Age there are suddenly no black men again (I am talking about 2001-2003 Jackson movies).

To play devil's advocate here, one can imagine that dark elves departed for the West first so they weren't around during the third age. And dark dwarves must have fallen victims to barlog in Moria

[Sorshen]

The driving question behind the production: “Can we come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote…?”

This is going to be a bigger fucking trainwreck than what they did to Wheel of Time, isn't it?

[Muxtar]

This is going to be a bigger fucking trainwreck than what they did to Wheel of Time, isn't it?

I guess they will even overwhelm last season of Game of Thrones in levels of stupidity. I genuinely wonder how Amazon can create such good show as The Boys and such awfulness as Wheel of Time, and - probably - Rings of Power. At the same fucking time.

- - - Updated - - -

To play devil's advocate here, one can imagine that dark elves departed for the West first so they weren't around during the third age. And dark dwarves must have fallen victims to barlog in Moria

Well, then this is plain damn racism - dark elves were departed from their homeland, and racist Balrog killed whole lot of black dwarves in Moria

[Askyl]

I'm as confident this Will be amazing as im confident you guys will cry about everything even if it turns out to be a masterpiece.

Reading MMO-champ is Always hilariously fun with all the crying.

[Flarelaine]

That makes no sense, as Elves live in nature, where there is sun, while the dwarves live underground where there is none.

For some reason my skin is lighter now during wintertime n darker during the summer...must be some coincidence...

Tolkien's elves don't go out in the sun much. They prefer starlight.

[DarkAmbient]

One of the executive producers has commented on criticism of the show:

“It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of [author J.R.R.] Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like,” Lindsey Weber, an executive producer of the series, told Vanity Fair

[Yadryonych]

I genuinely wonder how Amazon can create such good show as The Boys and such awfulness as Wheel of Time, and - probably - Rings of Power. At the same fucking time.

Because The Boys is masterfully constructed around already existing agenda and the other two have an alien agenda clumsily stretched onto them

[Muxtar]

Because The Boys is masterfully constructed around already existed agenda and the other two have an alien agenda clumsily stretched onto them

This is very well said, my friend. Indeed it is.

[melodramocracy]

Absolute yikes on that article.

The showrunners clearly have great respect for Tolkien, but you can’t make a 50-hour adaptation without taking creative risks. “We think the work will eventually speak for itself,”

[Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang]

Hmm, last I recall, in the background of the Hobbit Trilogy, unbearded female dwarves and chromatic representation were already being displayed . I personally had no calms about the former but the latter felt horribly forced already.

Granted that did not concern main characters... yet.

I find the pitch of a youthful and forward looking Galadriel contrasted with a human fleeing the past kinda odd, given how at the time the Rings were forged she was already several millennia old...

[Shadowferal]

[AcidicSyn]

Is Disa supposed to be who Dis was named for I guess?

I hope she's damn good, first freakin female dwarf ever shown in any form better fill those boots well! (Not counting Gloins locket) I'm honestly just happy to see more dwarves. If they show us Moria before its fall I may weep and I really really hope they do them justice. I wonder if it will just be Durins Folk though, or if we'll see any of the other clans that had....less than pleasant interactions with elves. (Can't recall just now if those wars were first or second age)

Balrog didn't wake up until well into T.A so.....here's hoping I guess