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

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Galin

Pants no help Hulk ratings!

If your name is Legolas, on the other hand....

[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.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by 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.

Possibly. I wonder though, how much they'll feel bound to stick with known characters in the interest of capturing the attention of the movie-goers.

[Kuruharan]

For some reason I am not feeling reassured by any of this.

I can't figure out why...

[Snowdog]

Amazon isn’t planning a conventional adaptation of “Lord of the Rings” along the lines of Jackson’s movies. Instead Amazon has declared it will make a “Lord of the Rings” prequel with new plot material.

Sounds pretty good to me in the fact it will not be a clone of the PJ fanfic crap.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Snowdog

Sounds pretty good to me in the fact it will not be a clone of the PJ fanfic crap.

??? Aren't they basically saying it'll be *actual* fan-fiction?

[Huinesoron]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

??? Aren't they basically saying it'll be *actual* fan-fiction?

... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The media is littered with sequels and 'adaptations' which are original works by people who enjoyed the source. The current crop of Star Wars films; the MCU; the various 'modern Sherlock Holmes' series; every Star Trek since DS9.

None of them represent what the creator would have written: rather, they take us on a visit to that world as visualised by a new writer. The same thing applies here: it won't be Tolkien - but nothing except the books ever will be (unless Christopher reveals that his father penned a secret movie script before he died).

I think I would rather have a good 'new tale of Middle-earth' series than a bad or even mediocre direct adaptation. No, it won't give us the scenes we love - we won't get to see a proper rendition of Frodo's stand at the Fords of Bruinen, or Gandalf's confrontation with the Witch-King (side-note: apparently my favourite scenes all involve defiant people on horseback, that's kinda weird) - but, to paraphrase Sam: they can take us to see Elves, Mr. Frodo. Elves!

I will gladly let them have the Adventures of Young Strider Meeting Everyone With a Name, if they will let me spend an hour in Lothlorien.

hS

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

but, to paraphrase Sam: they can take us to see Elves, Mr. Frodo. Elves!"

But will it be anything remotely recognizable as Tolkien's elves?

[Huinesoron]

If it's good, yes. If it's not, no. If instead of 'good original vs mediocre adaptation' the choice is 'bad original or bad adaptation'... then I just won't watch it.

hS

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Huinesoron

... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The media is littered with sequels and 'adaptations' which are original works by people who enjoyed the source. The current crop of Star Wars films; the MCU; the various 'modern Sherlock Holmes' series; every Star Trek since DS9.

Weel... not all of us consider your examples to be necessarily good things either, Huey.

None of them represent what the creator would have written: rather, they take us on a visit to that world as visualised by a new writer. The same thing applies here: it won't be Tolkien - but nothing except the books ever will be (unless Christopher reveals that his father penned a secret movie script before he died).

I think I would rather have a good 'new tale of Middle-earth' series than a bad or even mediocre direct adaptation. No, it won't give us the scenes we love - we won't get to see a proper rendition of Frodo's stand at the Fords of Bruinen, or Gandalf's confrontation with the Witch-King (side-note: apparently my favourite scenes all involve defiant people on horseback, that's kinda weird) - but, to paraphrase Sam: they can take us to see Elves, Mr. Frodo. Elves!

I will gladly let them have the Adventures of Young Strider Meeting Everyone With a Name, if they will let me spend an hour in Lothlorien.

hS

But how *likely* is The Adventures of Young Strider Meeting Everyone With A Name to be actually good? As opposed to an orgy of (possibly enjoyable) fan-service?

[Herald of Mandos]

Latest news here! Check it out!

[Inziladun]

Just saw a new article about the proposed series.

They describe it as a "partnership" between Amazon and the Estate (wonder how CT feels about that).

One quote that stands out:

The studio head said the only thing she knows for sure is the show will land somewhere between being completely original and being a faithful adaptation.

I just wonder about the balance there...

[Huinesoron]

The deal Amazon landed with the estate gives it access to nearly all of the material in the Middle Earth saga (although not 100% of it).

??? I'm going to assume this is just plain wrong, as Hobbit+LotR is nothing like 'nearly all', and I still don't believe the Estate would hand over the Silm+UT. I suppose it's possible CoH, B&L, and FoG could be included, as they're 'standalone' books... but I still don't think so.

The rumours I've seen are that they've approved 5 seasons (risky!), with the first probably being Young Aragorn. I think it's likely that the other seasons will follow the first, chronologically, which means... well, what are the options?

-Adventures of the Old Took. Obviously a bit out of its timeline, but viable, and a hilarious notion.
-Adventures of Tom Bombadil. ^_^
-Adventures of Balin in Moria. A bit of a downer.
-Adventures of Not-So-Young Legolas (And Tauriel). Time to reuse those Hobbit movie sets!
-Adventures of Evil Saruman. C'mon, we could definitely have a season of Saruman's fall into darkness. (Again, serious timeline issues, but this is Movie-earth.)
-Adventures of Young Imrahil. If Young Aragorn doesn't cover the Corsairs, then this Dol Amroth-centric series will.
-Adventures of Young(??) Galadriel. Who wants to stay in the woods when you can go be shiny at people?
-Adventures of Young Theoden. Horses! ... more horses!
-Adventures of Young Talion. Because what we really need is Mordor the Green and Pleasant Land, right? ... right?!
-Adventures of The War In The North. I suppose we should pay lip service to the whole plot of the books, yeah? In which case...
-Adventures in Scouring the Shire. Hey, PJ left it out, so we get to put it in.

And, finally...

-Adventures in Gardening. Just a whole season of Master Samwise peacefully tending his garden, looking after his kids, and being the best dang mayor the Shire has ever had.

hS

[Rhun charioteer]

Regarding the young Aragorn point-the appendices do give some material to work with.

My attitude towards this is cautious neutrality-if it turns out to be good and faithful both the lore and spirit of the work then I will be pleased. If its mediocre then well at least it wasn't terrible, if its terrible well then I will be unhappy but unsurprised.

[Andsigil]

I was thinking about this thread the other day. Assuming that this series doesn't become a cesspool of intersectional politics, I'd genuinely like to see all original characters and storylines, with the known Tolkien characters in the background or in cameo appearances.

The reason for this is because we already know the fates of the existing characters, which takes some of the adventure out of the story.

Example: Aragorn is in a cliffhanger ending. Well, it's not really a cliffhanger because we know that, no matter what, Aragorn will survive to appear later in Rivendell and save Middle Earth afterward.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

Example: Aragorn is in a cliffhanger ending. Well, it's not really a cliffhanger because we know that, no matter what, Aragorn will survive to appear later in Rivendell and save Middle Earth afterward.

How about Aragorn's younger, and decidedly not as smart, missing brother Bewilderon? Lost in the woods as a youth (because he's unable to get his ranger badge as an Elf Scout), he gets raised by an irascible but loveable family of Orcs who, try as they may, just can't get Bewilderon to assimilate into Orkish society. Much humor and confusion ensues as Bewilderon and Aragorn's paths keep crossing throughout Middle-earth.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

How about Aragorn's younger, and decidedly not as smart, missing brother Bewilderon? Lost in the woods as a youth (because he's unable to get his ranger badge as an Elf Scout), he gets raised by an irascible but loveable family of Orcs who, try as they may, just can't get Bewilderon to assimilate into Orkish society. Much humor and confusion ensues as Bewilderon and Aragorn's paths keep crossing throughout Middle-earth.

Younger? Identical twins, surely?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Younger? Identical twins, surely?

Who eventually turns to evil out of jealousy of the "perfect" Aragorn, and ends up becoming the Mouth of Sauron! They ought to hire me as a writer.

[Formendacil]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Who eventually turns to evil out of jealousy of the "perfect" Aragorn, and ends up becoming the Mouth of Sauron! They ought to hire me as a writer.

Nah, the real twist will come (at the end of season three or four) when Aragorn is killed and Evilagorn takes his place as part of some long con to infiltrate Lórien--but it turns out that Arwen is there and he falls as head-over-heels as his twin did and he commits to BEING Aragorn thenceforth and was actually the Strider that we come to know in The Lord of the Rings all along--the pipeweed (such an unelvish habit) is the only indicator left.

[Faramir Jones]

Formendacil, I found what you wrote here interesting:

Nah, the real twist will come (at the end of season three or four) when Aragorn is killed and Evilagorn takes his place as part of some long con to infiltrate Lórien--but it turns out that Arwen is there and he falls as head-over-heels as his twin did and he commits to BEING Aragorn thenceforth and was actually the Strider that we come to know in The Lord of the Rings all along--the pipeweed (such an unelvish habit) is the only indicator left.

However, I then asked myself this question: 'Should you be giving certain people bad ideas?'

[Boromir88]

I just wonder about the balance there... ~Inzil

It is a difficult balance, but can be done. Sounds like they're trying to go with a "faithful fan-fiction" approach. Not too dissimilar from our RPG structure on the 'Downs. I was never very involved in the role-playing forums here, but I always appreciated the structure to keep it grounded in Tolkien and Middle-earth, and not stray into the Star Wars realm of fan-fiction.

We could only guess at this point...but maybe "completely original" in terms of characters and plot, but a "faithful adaptation" in terms of setting, background and overall vision (in what leads up to Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings").

It can be successful and funny that essentially the Lord of the Rings isn't so much a black and white battle between good vs. evil. It's more about the battle between Hope and Despair. "Hope" in the even the very wise can not predict all ends, there's always a "Fool's Hope." Despair in "there is no hope, I know and can predict what the end is going to be." For me, when I think of the Hollywood business, despair has won. I know we're going to get the same recycled, uninspiring, dumbed down attempts to be "original" and appeal to the masses.