Monday, November 13, 2017

Amazon Lands 'Lord of the Rings' Series Adaptation with Multi-Season Commitment

After a story was leaked a week ago about the potential deal, Amazon has finally confirmed that it has acquired the global television rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise, based on the best-selling novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. The streaming service has handed out a multiple-season production commitment to a series adaptation.




The series will be set in Middle Earth and explore new storylines preceding Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal also includes potential spinoff series.

The series will be produced by Amazon Studios alongside the Tolkien Estate and Trust, publisher HarperCollins and Warner Bros. Entertainment's New Line Cinema. No executive producers, writers or directors are currently attached to the series.

"The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen," said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted, Amazon. "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."

"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," said Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. "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."