Lord of the Rings TV series gets multi-season order at Amazon

[Michael Murry]

I really have to wonder about how much of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" (books and films) can remain in certain private hands, for their commercial exploitation only. So many millions of people, over such a long period of time, have read and/or seen this material, that it already seems part of the general world culture. For example: in the bestselling book, The Martian, by Andy Weir -- and in its subsequent film adaptation -- a hero astronaut finds himself marooned on the planet Mars, while a group of NASA employees has a meeting to discuss a controversial plan to rescue him. The book depicts the scene as follows:

What the f*** is 'Project Elrond'?" Annie asked.
"I had to make something up," Venkat said.
"So you come up with 'Elrond'?" Annie pressed.
"Because it's a secret meeting?" Mitch guessed. "The e-mail said I couldn't even tell my assistant."
"I'll explain everything once Teddy arrives," Venkat said.
"Why does 'Elrond' mean 'secret meeting'?" Annie asked.
"Are we going to make a momentous decision?" Bruce Ng aksed.
"Exactly," Venkat said.
"How did you know that?" Annie asked, getting annoyed.
"Elrond," Bruce said. "The Council of Elrond. From Lord of the Rings. It's the meeting where they decide to destroy the One Ring."
"Jesus," Annie said. "None of you got laid in high school, did you?"

The movie scene has a bit more unspoken resonance because Sean Bean, the actor who portrayed the “Mitch” character (a NASA flight director) also played Boromir, an attendee at the film version of the Council of Elrond, from Book II of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring. Additionally, in the movie but not the book, the character Teddy (Director of NASA) adds: “If we're going to call something 'Project Elrond,' I'd like my code name to be 'Glorfindel',” which would indicate that the character had read the books since the elf character Glorfindel never appeared in Peter Jackson's film version of The Fellowship. Of course, the movie version had to clean up the language somewhat, with the first and last lines of dialogue changed to "What the hell is 'Project Elrond'?" and "I hate every one of you," respectively.

I find it hard to believe that the publishers and producers of The Martian - book and film -- would have had to pay royalties or other forms of "compensation" to the Tolkien Estate or various film studios for making reference to "The Council of Elrond" in their own work. I checked inside the front and back covers of the book for CYA disclaimers and found only the standard generic one:

"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental."

I wonder how far the producers of the projected television series can stretch this "fictitious" and "entirely coincidental" kind of legalistic denial.

[Michael Murry]

Thanks for the verse, Pitchwife. And thanks, again, for that comment (#3) you made many years ago in the "Itaril" thread where you wrote:

A quick google search of "Itaril hobbit", however, revealed this:

Originally Posted by http://collider.com/casting-info-for...revealed/13531

[ITARIL] FEMALE, A WOODLAND ELF, this character is one the Silvan Elves. The Silvan Elves are seen as more earthy and practical. Shorter than other elves, she is still quick and lithe and physically adept, being able to fight with both sword and bow. Showing promise as a fighter at a young age, ITARIL was chosen to train to become part of the Woodland King’s Guard. This is the only life she has ever expected to live, until she meets and secretly falls in love with a young ELF LORD. This role will require a wig and contact lenses to be worn. Some prosthetic make-up may also be required. LEAD. AGE: 17-27. ACCENT – STANDARD R.P.

So it seems like PJ & Co. nicked the name for some token female Elf who wasn't in the book either, but whose presence is presumed necessary in order to feed the unwashed movie-watching masses' hunger for on-screen romance. I'm afraid it takes no extraordinary sagacity to guess who the "young Elf lord" she falls in love with is going to be... *shudder*

I hold you blameless for inspiring my own attempts (often sordid) to follow -- in verse -- the implications inherent in this casting advertisement. Despite the later euphemistic change of product description to "Tauriel," and the change of "love" interest from Elf lord to dwarf miner, the essential "strong female" Mary Sue nature of the elf-chick role remained from first to last. Recently, I went back and gathered all my verse compositions from that thread together -- along with some of the forum commentary, positive and negative, that prompted my poor poetic efforts -- with a view to publishing them someday as a connected cycle. With the promised (i.e., "threatened") television series and spin-offs coming soon, though, I thought it best to wrap up this "Hobbit" elf-chick thing before moving on to whatever awful idea comes next. I think that I tried this once before in another thread, but I've forgotten where I put it. So, with a few changes, I'll try again with:

Unrequited Elf-Dwarf Libido

How did this interspecies film romance
Have anything amounting to a chance
If he, the dwarf, had nothing in his shorts
And she, the elf, knew only glib retorts?

We know that elves and men can mate, it's true,
Because Professor Tolkien said they do.
But how do elves and dwarves refute the rule
That horses crossed with donkeys make a mule?

It seems this kind of, tawdry, tame affair
Appeals to those without a pubic hair:
To boys in bed, both hands beneath the sheets,
And girls who've yet to grow a pair of teats.

And what of that “young Elf Lord” -- You-Know-Him --
Whose face emotes expressions fell and grim
Who left the elf-chick in his dad's employ
To go in search of one ten-year-old boy*

What does a jilted elf-chick have to do?
Abandoned by a dwarf and elf lord, too.
It looks like time for yet another plan.
Who's left to further her career? A man?

Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller," Copyright 2017

Note * According to Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, Aragorn, born in 2931 of the Third Age, would have only reached the age of ten or eleven by 2942, the year that The Hobbit ends with Bilbo's return from his great adventure to Bag End, Hobbiton.

I note this because, very near the end of the last Hobbit film, i.e., The Battle of the Five Armies, the "young Elf Lord" Legolas bluntly tells his dad, King Thranduil: "I can't to back." When the Silvan Elf King solemnly asks his son: "Where will you go?" Legolas answers: "I do not know." The Elf King then advises his son: "Go north. Find the Dunedain. There is a young ranger among them. You should meet him. His father, Arathorn, was a good man. His son might grow to be a great one." Legolas then asks the obvious: "What is his name?" To which the King answers, cryptically: "He is known in the wild as 'Strider.' His true name you must discover for yourself."

Unfortunately for Legolas in 2942, Lord Elrond in Imladris (Rivendell) reveals to 'Estel' his true name and ancestry, and delivers to him the shards of Narsil and other heirlooms, only in 2951, when Aragorn turns twenty.

Therefore, in 2942 when Thranduil attempts to advise his son Legolas where to go: (1) No one but Elrond and Aragorn's mother, Gilraen, know Aragorn's true name or his ancestry. Aragorn himself answers to the name of "Estel." (2) Aragorn lives in Imladris under his pseudonym and not with the Dunedian in the north whose existence he probably doesn't even know about. (3) At the age of ten or eleven his legs have not grown long enough for him to "stride" about in the Wild and earn the nickname "Strider." Anyway, Aragorn doesn't even go out into the Wild knowing his true name and ancestry until he turns twenty. And even then and thereafter, he goes about under any number of assumed names for a great many years.

Quite a bit doesn't add up here, and if Legolas actually follows his dad's advice, he will have about seven decades to wander around lost before Lord Elrond reveals Aragorn's true name and lineage to all those assembed at The Council of Elrond in October of 3018.

Hard to say all that in a few lines of verse, so "one ten-year-old boy" will have to suffice.

[Rhun charioteer]

Originally Posted by Michael Murry

I really have to wonder about how much of "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" (books and films) can remain in certain private hands, for their commercial exploitation only. So many millions of people, over such a long period of time, have read and/or seen this material, that it already seems part of the general world culture. For example: in the bestselling book, The Martian, by Andy Weir -- and in its subsequent film adaptation -- a hero astronaut finds himself marooned on the planet Mars, while a group of NASA employees has a meeting to discuss a controversial plan to rescue him. The book depicts the scene as follows:



The movie scene has a bit more unspoken resonance because Sean Bean, the actor who portrayed the “Mitch” character (a NASA flight director) also played Boromir, an attendee at the film version of the Council of Elrond, from Book II of LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring. Additionally, in the movie but not the book, the character Teddy (Director of NASA) adds: “If we're going to call something 'Project Elrond,' I'd like my code name to be 'Glorfindel',” which would indicate that the character had read the books since the elf character Glorfindel never appeared in Peter Jackson's film version of The Fellowship. Of course, the movie version had to clean up the language somewhat, with the first and last lines of dialogue changed to "What the hell is 'Project Elrond'?" and "I hate every one of you," respectively.

I find it hard to believe that the publishers and producers of The Martian - book and film -- would have had to pay royalties or other forms of "compensation" to the Tolkien Estate or various film studios for making reference to "The Council of Elrond" in their own work. I checked inside the front and back covers of the book for CYA disclaimers and found only the standard generic one:

"This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental."

I wonder how far the producers of the projected television series can stretch this "fictitious" and "entirely coincidental" kind of legalistic denial.

You know I wonder if it's good or bad Tolkien's works have the shining omnipresent legacy they do.

A part of me says yes and a part of me says no.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Rhun charioteer

You know I wonder if it's good or bad Tolkien's works have the shining omnipresent legacy they do.

I see it as an inevitable stage in their transmutation from literature to true myth.

Michael, thanks for a little trip down memory lane, back to the days where we could only surmise which of our nightmares would be fulfilled by PJ & company. I'll pass your thanks for the verse on to Uncle Ezra.

Originally Posted by Michael Murry

Therefore, in 2942 when Thranduil attempts to advise his son Legolas where to go: (1) No one but Elrond and Aragorn's mother, Gilraen, know Aragorn's true name or his ancestry. Aragorn himself answers to the name of "Estel." (2) Aragorn lives in Imladris under his pseudonym and not with the Dunedian in the north whose existence he probably doesn't even know about. (3) At the age of ten or eleven his legs have not grown long enough for him to "stride" about in the Wild and earn the nickname "Strider." Anyway, Aragorn doesn't even go out into the Wild knowing his true name and ancestry until he turns twenty. And even then and thereafter, he goes about under any number of assumed names for a great many years.

Quite a bit doesn't add up here, and if Legolas actually follows hid dad's advice, he will have about seven decades to wander around lost before Lord Elrond reveals Aragorn's true name and lineage to all those assembed at The Council of Elrond in October of 3018.

Now this could be material for an epic multi-season series! "Legolas: The Search For Strider" would follow ranger and elf-prince on their separate but interwoven adventures through the wild and uncharted realms of Middle-earth, even to Rhûn and Harad, where the stars are strange, with every foreshadowed meeting ending in a near miss. We could watch Aragorn serve incognito under Thengel and Ecthelion, the barbaric tribes of the East and South would add an exotic flair to rival the Essos and Dorne scenes in GoT, complete with scantily clad oriental princesses and conlangs by David Peterson; for the horror element we could have the Black Riders stretching their limbs after awaking from millennial sleep during The Hobbit, and maybe one of those sorcerous cults the Blue Wizards are reported to have started. Every now and then Galadriel would PM Legolas telepathically, telling him in broken Elvish that Strider is in grave danger and Leggy must hasten to save him, but of course Aragorn has saved himself by the time Leggy arrives. We could even have a little L/A slash as long as Leggy doesn't realize that this ruggedly handsome man who awakens unforeseen desire in him is 'Strider'.

(I'm kidding, of course... or am I? Part of me wouldn't mind watching such a cinematic fan fic, minus the Legolas part and other obvious silliness--if only it were perfectly clear that it's nothing but that, fan fic, and we wouldn't have to explain to future Piles of Bones that Aragorn's fling with that Easterling princess who secretly meant to betray him to dark!Pallando never really happened.)

[Michael Murry]

I apologize if others have already covered this article ...

"Why Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Show Won’t Be the New Game of Thrones"
By Joanna Robinson, Vanity Fair (November, 2017)
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood...amazon-prequel

... But I wanted to excerpt a few comments relevant to my own, admittedly jaundiced, view of things. For example:

Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins, clarifies that the series will “bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings,”*which leaves a lot of leeway for elaborate inspired-by inventions [such as] the many side stories that padded out Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. In other words, this could be a by-the-book Silmarillion-esque nerdfest, or a show sure to enrage the Tolkien die-hards as much as Jackson’s invented love story between Evangeline Lilly’s elf warrior Tauriel and Aidan Turner’s dwarf Kíli.

An "enraged Tolkien die-hard"? I resemble that remark!

Or, perhaps, I only half resemble it, since I belong to the enraged Tolkien die-hard cohort that couldn't stomach Jackson's invented love story when it first involved an Elf-chick character by the name of "Itaril" (originally scheduled for portrayal by the teenage actress Saoirse Ronan) who fell secretly in love with a "young Elf Lord," You-Know-Him, while kicking butt and taking names for the Silvan Elf King Thranduil, father of the "young Elf Lord" in question. Apparently, the author of this article completely missed the first iteration of this really lousy Elf-chick "warrior" thing and only picked up on it the second time around. Just change the name from "innocent bystander" to "collateral damage" and the killing can continue. Primitive Word-Magic works every time.

Then, we have this:

Still, all the younger wizards and elves of Middle Earth can’t guarantee that this Lord of the Rings TV series will be the next Game of Thrones. For one thing, the HBO series started as a very faithful adaptation with a built-in audience of loyal book fans. Tolkien fans, still licking their wounds after the Hobbit trilogy, are likely to be very wary of another potentially less-than-faithful prequel.

Yeah. Still licking my wounds. Not real keen to acquire more of them.

[Rhun charioteer]

The press really does seem to like pricking at Tolkien fans. They also seem to portray Christopher Tolkien himself as a mean ogre that won't everyone enjoy his father's blessings.

[Inziladun]

I really hope this thing tanks. I hate to say that about anything associated with Tolkien, but maybe that would at least ensure less outrageous treatment of his world, from the point of view of "enraged die-hards" such as I.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I really hope this thing tanks. I hate to say that about anything associated with Tolkien, but maybe that would at least ensure less outrageous treatment of his world, from the point of view of "enraged die-hards" such as I.

I have a more nuanced approach.

If a miracle happens and it is good I hope it succeeds.

If, as is most likely, it is a porn fest or otherwise terrible, I hope it fails so hard as to eliminate any desire by anybody in pop culture to ever touch Tolkien again with a ten foot pole.

[Michael Murry]

I just caught a couple of interesting comments regarding the "Lord of the Rings" television stuff soon to come:

Amazon is turning The Lord of the Rings into a TV show
Just in case the movies didn’t do it for you
by Bryan Bishop, The Verge (November 13, 2017)
...
In the statement announcing the news, the company clarifies that the new show will “explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring,” with a potential spinoff series also included as part of the deal. That means Amazon is going to be making a prequel to the classic tale of Frodo Baggins, offering Amazon plenty of leeway to create its own characters and take on the world. If Amazon is looking for an opportunity to add the sex, violence, and soap opera drama to Tolkien’s world that have made shows like Game of Thrones so successful, this kind of approach would certainly offer the opportunity.

Oh, great: "Sex, violence, and soap opera drama." Just what the "Lord of the Rings" brand needs.

And then we have this:

Amazon confirms a 'Lord of the Rings' TV series is in the works
The rumors are true.
By Swapna Krishna, endgadget.com (November 13, 2017)
https://www.engadget.com/2017/11/13/...son-tv-series/

It's important to note that this series "will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring," rather than re-tell the stories depicted onscreen in Peter Jackson's trilogy. The deal, which commits to multiple seasons for the show, also includes a possible spin-off series. Given the popularity of Lord of the Rings as a franchise (we'll just pretend that the endless The Hobbit movies don't exist), the rumors of Amazon prepping a free ad-supported video service couldn't come at a better time.

I hadn't thought of this, but upon reflection, it makes perfect sense: We'll just pretend that the endless The Hobbit movies don't exist Therefore, anything before the Fellowship of the Ring looks like fair game. I think I've got it now.

[Morsul the Dark]

Playing devil's advocate, seems to me having a story based on lore in the Appendices is the safest bet as far as adaptation goes. You have the outline for framework but within that lots of room to maneuver. Unlike adapting a fully fleshed story such as LoTR or TH I think it'll have a much better chance at being good, since there's less screen to book comparisons.