9 ms·
Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ series will cost at least $465M for first season
- amelius 6y agoCurious if I'm the only one here who thinks that LotR is overrated. Let them spend the money on a better story.
- adrianN 6y agoLord of the Rings is a brilliant story, but I'd strongly prefer new material over another adaption.
- radicalbyte 6y agoTheir series is a new series, it's based on stories from The Silmarillion and the large series published by Christopher Tolkien.
- humanlion87 6y agoThis series is supposed to be set during the time of Morgoth. So the story is going to be completely different from LotR. I think they are just using the name as a stop gap (and maybe for PR) until they officially name the series.
- simonh 6y agoIt's actually set after the war against Morgoth. It's after the sinking of Beleriand, at the time of the ascendency of the Island of Numenor. This is the era during which the Rings of Power are forged, so they may well stick with the Lord of the Rings banding as it is going to be part of the overall story of the rings, and Sauron will likely feature as a prominent character.
- humanlion87 6y agoThank you for correcting me!
- celebrimbor7 6y agoThe title is a bit misleading, as Amazon's series is based on different material. It's presumably called 'The Lord of the Rings' because its title character is the same as that of the book and original movies.
- tzs 6y agoAs others have already pointed out, the LotR universe is much bigger than the Peter Jackson adaptations covered, and this will be set in those other parts of that universe. So it should be fine on the new vs. rehash front. But if any producers read HN and are looking for other well-developed fantasy or science fiction universes with plenty of existing written stories that could be turned into excellent TV series, miniseries, or movies, here are some that I'd definitely want to watch, and I don't think I'd be alone in this. 1. Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser" series [1]. 2. Richard and Wendy Pini's "Elfquest" series [2]. 3. Larry Niven's Known Space series [3]. 4. Anne McCaffrey's Pern series [4]. As far as I know, no one has even ever started development on #1. Warner Brothers announced they were going to do an "Elfquest" movie in 2008, but cancelled it because they thought it would compete with another fantasy movie they were doing, "The Hobbit". One story from #3, "The Soft Weapon" got adapted to the Star Trek universe and became the episode "The Slaver Weapon" of the Star Trek animated series. #4 almost got to the point of shooting a pilot for a TV series at Warner Broters. They had cast it and sets were being built. But WB requested so many changes in the final script that it was no longer really Pern (I've seen it described as a cross between Xena and Buffy). The showrunner, Ronald D. Moore [5], was a fan of the books and quit rather than going along with the changes, and the project died. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafhrd_and_the_Gray_Mouser https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fafhrd_and_the_Gray_Mouser [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfquest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfquest [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Known_Space [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonriders_of_Pern [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_D._Moore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_D._Moore
- DangitBobby 6y agoI was never able to read all the way through the books myself; they were much too dry for my taste. I did quite enjoy The Hobbit though, and I think the LotR movies are fantastic. It's an excellent cinematic universe, IMO. There is so much there to build a story upon.
- tutfbhuf 6y agoWhy do you think it is overrated?
- WillPostForFood 6y agoI agree the movies are overrated. The effects, which were ahead of their time, already look very dated. The battle scenes aren’t particularly well choreographed (compare to Ran or Lawrence of Arabia). The books are appropriately rated though.
- CryptoPunk 6y agoLord of the Rings is in many places unexceptional, but I think the parts that stand out, particularly the themes of duty and camaradarie, like Frodo's personal struggle to resist the ring's effects, and Sam's love for Frodo, make it a seminal work. The moral fiber of Tolkien shines through in passages like this: Frodo: 'What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature when he had a chance!' 'Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy: not to strike without need. And he has been well rewarded, Frodo. Be sure that he took so little hurt from the evil, and escaped in the end, because he began his ownership of the Ring so. With Pity.' 'I am sorry,' said Frodo. 'But I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.' 'You have not seen him,' Gandalf broke in. 'No, and I don't want to,' said Frodo. 'I can't understand you. Do you mean to say that you, and the Elves, have let him live on after all those horrible deeds? Now at any rate he is as bad as an Orc, and just an enemy. He deserves death.' 'Deserves it? I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.'
- j4yav 6y agoSo true. It is really a shame they are going down the sex and nudity route to make it more like Game of Thrones.
- inawarminister 6y agoWell, it's set in the degeneration era of latter-day Numenor, with proud long lived mortals struggling against "divine" (at least the Ainur) ban on sailing west and their immortal favored children. That society should look a lot like Game of Thrones' Rhllorism at the end I'd say. Complete with human sacrifices, dark magics, etc. Should be fun.
- candiddevmike 6y agoIf anyone has ever read the Malazan Book of the Fallen books, adapting that into a series would be incredible, though it would be a serious undertaking. My dream adaptation would be an animated version in the style of the Castlevania and DOTA shows on Netflix--I don't think live-action with CGI could do it justice.
- effingwewt 6y agoI don't think so at all. I read the entire series, I waited for every new boom with baited breath. But without spoiling anything- by the end it had clearly gone the way of the Battlestar Galactica remake. They had no idea where to take the story and by the end it was painfully obvious. At least Moore admitted that by the end he was as lost as we were. Same with GRRM, or even Stephen Kimg and the Gunslinger series. I absolutely adore a good story but much prefer ones with a general outline finished before writing a series. Disjointed stories with years between each never seem as good to me by their conclusions. Castlevania started out great but meandered to 'WTAF how could you make me hate a Castlevania adult cartoon?!' in typical Netflix fashion. Take the opposite example of Cowboy Bebop, had a pretty clear arc as well as an ending, and was perfect for it. But I guess everyone just wants to be The Simpsons and drag things on forever.
- zo1 6y agoI would rather hollywood invested in "random" fantasy/sci-fi books. Probably each one of those books is a unique universe on its own that can be used as a setting for literally any kind of story. Yet here we are, still stuck with orcs, vampires, zombies and wizards (don't mean to demean it, I love all of it). Just wish they would use some new kind of universe with its own unique mechanics. They do drip out once in a while, but they're mostly rare.
- CyberDildonics 6y agoIs amazon making a series in new zealand really hollywood?
- ridethebike 6y agoMilking existing familiar to everyone universes is just more profitable. MCU, as primitive as it is(my apologies to fans), has been best money maker of last decade for a reason.
- globular-toast 6y agoLord of the Rings is great for many reasons, but when it comes to story His Dark Materials is better. It's a real shame they messed up the movie for that one.
- ModernMech 6y agoThe HBO series has been fantastic so far.
- CodeGlitch 6y agoFor me, LotR hits a sweet-spot. Long enough to get your teeth into, fantastic world-building, amazing music that I still listen to, and it was made at the point in time before films over-used CGI. Don't get me wrong, I like computer graphics (I used to work in video games) but modern films are almost lazy in their use of CGI. Ridiculous camera angles that simply wouldn't be possible take me right out of the movie. Characters (CGI models) swinging and jumping all over the place that don't feel "grounded" (see the Marvel movies for example). LotR did have plenty of CGI but I get the feeling they were conservative with its use, and resorted to physical artefacts such as sand in-place of flowing/gushing water in scale-models (yes they still used scale-models!). I can compare it to Jurassic Park - whereby the CGI looks great even today, but due to the high cost at the time was used conservatively. The Mandalarian used physical models for a lot of the space sequences, so I think at least some people in the business are realising that CGI has to be used appropriately. Anyway rant over :)
- adflux 6y agoI am very curious to see how strongly the amount of money spent will correlate with the quality of this series. Pretty cool that they are doing a lot of work in New Zealand again. The LOTR really started a revolution in terms of movie production there. If you're really into LOTR or into movie making, I recommend watching (some of) the LOTR appendices. They go into great detail in as to how they produced the original trilogy.
- rightbyte 6y agoCompare the Hobbit and Lotr movies. Simple things as having CGI orcs will mess up the feeling. It is not about money mainly.
- kzrdude 6y agoI get the impression that LotR was a project Peter Jackson had a lot of passion for, and the Hobbit wasn't, really.
- mehlmao 6y agoMy understanding is that he directed the Hobbit movies after Guillermo del Toro was removed, and the studio wanted him to start filming immediately. Fellowship had tons of pre-production time, The Hobbit movies had virtually none.
- larusso 6y agoYes. When they started shooting Lord of the Rings they had already 3 years of preproduction done which means weapons and sets and buildings and all. The hobbit was a constant race against the clock. And they tried to make the goblins non CGI with animatronic heads. But it simply didn’t work and looked good enough. I still feel that the CGI heads in the end are also ugly but what gives.
- adflux 6y agoPeter Jackson got in ONLY at the last moment as Guillermo del Toro bailed out. He simply didn't have the time he had when he did the original trilogy. Preproduction alone took years for that.
- olivierestsage 6y agoAlthough I suspect this will not be a popular comment, I hope the Amazon series will remain faithful to the Catholic/Christian sense that Tolkien deliberately infused into these novels. Peter Jackson did a notably good job with that, all things considered. To be clear, I don't think that you should have to be a Christian to like Lord of the Rings -- quite the contrary. But given the lack of compelling Christian art in general the past 50 or 60 years, I sometimes find it a bit painful as a believer that such a notable counter-example is so often treated as if it can be separated from its author's profound religious convictions.
- ycombinete 6y agoI’ve heard good things about Colm Toibins books, if you’re looking for good art with a Christian foundation.
- SilasX 6y agoWell, I have some bad news. It’s looking like they’re going to ape Game of Thrones, nudity and all. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/lord-rings-sex-amazon-series-lotr-tolkien-game-thrones-b838613.html https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/lor...
- swarnie_ 6y agoGreat, that seems more compelling then 2000 year old Palestinian fairy tales.
- crtasm 6y agoLet's click through to their source as all the Independent has to offer is oversimplification and some social media posts: https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2020/10/06/108573-sex-sensibility-amazons-nude-take-on-tolkien/ https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2020/10/06/108573-sex-sensi... So the intimacy coordinator who appears be working on the project, and might be working in that role or some other role, might be there for a sex scene, or perhaps only for some non-sexual nudity.
- cvhashim 6y ago
- gotoeleven 6y agoI'm excited to see how a fantasy story about magic and elves can be used as a vehicle to teach me about white supremacy and transgenderism.
- meroes 6y agoThat's what Harry Potter is for LotR is to teach you Christian God likes certain people better and makes them win and there really isn't free will I really think those are loosly the overarching lessons of the two works. Hamfisted but enjoyable. And beneficial to society but still hamfisted.
- t-writescode 6y agoIs this what we do now? Remake things that are still in the majority of our living memories? Have the original LOTR movies stopped holding up? Are we playing the long game and intending to have an Into The Smiegalverse?
- greedo 6y agoWait until Disney decides to do a re-launch of the original Star Wars trilogy (not the soft relaunch of Ep 7-9). As a huge fan of both LOTR and Star Wars, I think what we have already is great. Amazon should do something like the Silmarillion etc. Edit: didn't realize that this is exactly what Amazon is doing! Fantastic!
- larusso 6y agoMy understanding was that they shoot a series about Aragorn or? The world of Middleearth spans multiple thousand years. Check out the Silmarillion which tells most of the creation story and more. The Story about the Ring which only spans about 80 years if you count the hobbit is a very small part of this world. There is a lot of untold parts that would be worth telling. I would like to see the story of Númenor and it’s aftermath up until the Ring gets lost.
- celebrimbor7 6y agoThe Amazon series is about Numenor
- larusso 6y agoPerfect then :)
- jeffwass 6y agoThe old Hobbit and LotR cartoons were released in 1977 and 1978 respectively. So Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, 23 years after the cartoon, and this version is a further 21 years (assuming a 2022 release) after Jackson’s version, a similar time span. And damn, this makes me feel old.
- runawaybottle 6y agoThe budget for the first three movies in total was 281 million. They filmed on location and had pretty good CGI, minus a few scenes that would look better today. Why are costs going up here? Tech is commoditized easily (ease of use and availability of talent), so I expect CG work to have gotten better and cheaper.
- yuppie_scum 6y agoThere’s been a lot of inflation in the past 20 years.
- Glide 6y agoThat moment when you realize how long ago LoTR trilogy was....
- TheTrotters 6y agoAccording to the BLS inflation calculator $100 in January 200 is worth the same as $156 in March 2021, so in inflation-adjusted terms both projects cost roughly the same amount.
- chrisseaton 6y ago> The budget for the first three movies in total was 281 million ... Why are costs going up here? Well for a start just the rights for this TV show cost about as much as all three movies did. Back then the Lord of the Rings was not something at the front of people's cultural minds. Now it is.
- sp332 6y agoPrestige TV series cost way more money than average movies. Game of Thrones' last episodes cost $15 million each. https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/tv-series-budgets-costs-rising-peak-tv-1202570158/ https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/tv-series-budgets-costs-ris... I guess it was only a matter of time before they started rivaling prestige movie budgets too. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/559417/most-expensive-tv-shows-ever-made-game-of-thrones-the-crown https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/559417/most-expensive-tv...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- gwern 6y agoIt's staggering to think that this TV show might cost well over $2 billion. We are approaching numbers typically used only of events like the Manhattan Project or Apollo. Considering that movies and shows still get made about those and the apparently exponential growth of budgets, it seems likely that at some point, there will have been more money spent cumulatively on shows about the MP or Apollo than on the actual historical event. And at some point afterwards, there will be more spent on a single show about them than the actual event.
- lumost 6y agoIf more money is spent making a show about Apollo than the actual Apollo missions - why not film them on location?
- xiphias2 6y agoTom Cruise is going to space for a reason
- wmf 6y agoSomeone once joked that if Kubrick had been asked to fake the moon landings he would have insisted on filming on the moon for maximum realism. The main problem is probably cost disease; if you tried to recreate any Apollo missions today it would cost you more (adjusted for inflation even) that it originally did.
- SilasX 6y ago"Cost disease" generally refers to the phenomenon of things becoming (relatively) more expensive because of the unavoidable human-labor component, but the Apollo missions would be more expensive for other reasons, or other requirements that necessitate human labor where said requirements didn't exist before.
- orwin 6y agoyeah, the cost of human life is significantly higher than what it used to be.
- dvfjsdhgfv 6y agoI hope they finally reintroduce Tom Bombadil, one of the most interesting and powerful characters in the trilogy, unfortunately completely removed from the movies.
- causality0 6y agoOk, so with that amount of money it isn't going to be the Soviet Lord of the Rings. The question still remains as to whether it's going to be over-exploited garbage like the Hobbit trilogy.
- GoodJokes 6y agoWhat if they used this money to make something new. Can we all start consuming content that isn’t LoTR/GoT/MCU? What a travesty of a spend.