Amazon will adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings for television with a multi-season commitment. The storyline will precede The Fellowship of the Ring and be available exclusively on Prime Video.
Lord of the Rings TV show
The TV show will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema who helped bring the film trilogy to the big screen.
- “The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios. “We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”
The television adaptation will be “exploring new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring”, the company said. Amazon has signed a “multi season production commitment”. The deal also includes potential spin-off series.
- “We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord of the Rings,” said Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”
Deadline previously reported that Netflix and HBO were also offered the show. The rights are said to be priced in the $200-250 million dollar range.
The Lord of the Rings TV show will be available exclusively and globally on Prime Video via TVs and other connected devices at no additional cost to the membership. The premiere date was not announced.
- Source: Amazon