Sir Peter Jackson is reportedly in talks with Amazon about potentially having a role on its upcoming Lord of the Rings TV show.
The Kiwi filmmaker had no involvement with Amazon's original deal with the Tolkien estate, according to the Hollywood Reporter, but his lawyer Peter Nelson has "helped start a dialogue" between them.
It's still not clear what the narrative of the series will focus on, but it's said to be a prequel to the Oscar-winning original trilogy.
The Lord of the Rings TV show is set to be a hugely expensive project. Amazon already reportedly spent US$250 million for the rights to it, now the Hollywood Reporter article claims "when production expenses like casting, producers and visual effects are factored in, the series is expected to cost north of US$1 billion".
That figure is larger than the previously astounding budget of the fellow fantasy show Game of Thrones, which reportedly had a budget of US$6 million per episode in season one, growing to around US$15 million per episode for the upcoming final season.
All eight seasons of the HBO show will then have a combined budget of around US$770 million - which is much cheaper than Amazon's.
The Lord of the Rings series is committed to at least five seasons and may include material from the six of Sir Peter's Tolkien films, according to the new report.
"It's very much a creature of the times," Nelson told the Hollywood Reporter of the Amazon deal.
"We are in an era where streamers are bidding up the price of programming. I think Amazon is taking a page out of the studios' emphasis on franchises.
"They also are realising that with the overproduction of television, you need to get the eyeballs to the screen, and you can do that with franchise titles."
Part of the deal between Amazon and the Tolkien estate is that production must be launched within two years.
The Hollywood Reporter claims whether or not Sir Peter would serve as an executive producer would be "up to him".
LupinThe8th on April 6th, 2018 at 12:57 UTC »
PJ, it's a trap! They'll get you to produce, then fire the director, convince you to take his place, then increase the number of seasons at the last minute! You'll never escape!
bobosuda on April 6th, 2018 at 12:39 UTC »
I sincerly hope that whatever they end up using in the show isn't anything from the movies. All the characters, places and events in the LotR movies have already been shown on the screen about as well as it ever could. Getting a brand new Fellowship with new actors would just ruin both adaptions, IMO.
Just go with Silmarillion. Behind the long-winded world-building and the dry academic creation stories there's a ton of amazing tales that could fit into several seasons worth of a TV show. Feanor and the creation of the Silmarils. Melkior stealing the gems and fleeing Valinor, the war against Morgoth and the centuries long siege of Angband, all the various deeds of the legendary elvish heroes; Finarfin, Fingolfin, Finrod Felagund, etc. Like, imagine the story of Gondolin; from it's foundation by Turgon and all the way up to the incredibly epic assault on Gondolin and the battle between Gothmog and Echtelion.
Make it an anthology of sorts, you could easily pick pretty much any named character from the Silmarillion and get an episodes worth of story around him/her.
iamhereforthefood on April 6th, 2018 at 09:48 UTC »
I just hope it's LOTR Peter Jackson and not The Hobbit Peter Jackson