Amazon.com Inc has purchased the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings. This may be Amazon’s most expensive move in history and is being made to entice viewers to Amazon’s Prime streaming and shopping service. Beyond the massive expenditure required to purchase the rights, the cost to produce the series is expected to be hugely expensive.
The current plan is to create a multi-season series that explores the J.R.R. Tolkien universe prior to The Fellowship of the Ring, which is the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The series is slated to explore some of Tolkien’s work which the movies have not yet explored, possibly taking content from The Silmarillion.
The television series rights were purchased from the Tolkien Estate and Trust but the amount paid has not been disclosed. HarperCollins and New Line Cinema will assist Amazon with the production of the series.
https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/930134795304148992
Amazon’s previous unique and original series programming, which has historically been well-received by critics, didn’t draw the subscriber numbers Amazon was hoping for. In contrast, Amazon appears to be showing a shift towards more well-known “branded” content to see if they can woo the public.
I’m reminded of Netflix, which has created some excellent original programming and more recently added Marvel branding to their series arsenal.
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