Rings of Power Amazon buys up Middle-earth, it searches the One Ring! (Rings of Power news thread)

[Bilbo 3,706]

No Moffatt please. I think we’ve seen everything worth seeing from him.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,256]

Indeed!

[BloodBoal 7,537]

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

And so it begins.

[BloodBoal 7,537]

[Quintus 5,394]

We come to it at last...  the great forum speculation event of our time. 

 

POST NOW! POST NOW! POST! POST FOR RUIN! AND JWFAN'S ENNNNNNDINNNG!!! 

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

So how many pages will this thread go until this thing premiers?

[Barnald 364]

42

[Bilbo 3,706]

8 hours ago, Barnald said:

42

 

 

I think you underestimate the ability of myself and B.B. to bullshit 

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

So you're Bilbo Bullshit?

[BloodBoal 7,537]

[Quintus 5,394]

He just went off Star Wars a bit. 

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

There is another Sky-walk—-

[Bilbo 3,706]

1 hour ago, Quintus said:

He just went off Star Wars a bit. 

 

I actually haven't but when changing my username Bilbo just seemed to make more sense than Skywalker. I wanted to change the name and not have people confused about who I am. 

 

Otherwise I'd have called myself LISA or Newton or something. 

1 hour ago, BloodBoal said:

He is Bilbo Skywalker, a.k.a. BS

 

I told you, that name no longer has anything meaning for me. 

[BloodBoal 7,537]

[Bilbo 3,706]

Your opinion on the matter is irrelevant 

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

39 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

 

But it still has to us.

 If he could be turned...

[BloodBoal 7,537]

[KK 3,254]

Well that's a clickbait title, if there ever was one.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,157]

Ian McKellen Wants to Play Gandalf on Amazon’s TV Series: ‘He’s Over 7000 Years Old, So I’m Not Too Old’

[Quintus 5,394]

If he's yet to be contacted or informed then the assumption is they're not writing anything for Gandalf. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,256]

They only just secured the rights. Give it time.

[Chen G. 3,216]

Sir Ian clearly likes playing Gandalf, which is very nice to hear.

 

No sir Alec "I'm too good for genre films" Guinness here.

[Quintus 5,394]

I didn't see Obi Wan show up in Corrie either. 

[KK 3,254]

Sounds like general press junket banter.

 

McKellan clearly had a miserable time with The Hobbit. But I suppose in the hands of a more capable team, he would be interested.

[Bilbo 3,706]

20 hours ago, Quintus said:

I didn't see Obi Wan show up in Corrie either. 

 

 

Raise the Titanic wasn’t exactly Citizen Kane either though. 

[Barnald 364]

6 hours ago, KK said:

Sounds like general press junket banter.

 

McKellan clearly had a miserable time with The Hobbit. But I suppose in the hands of a more capable team, he would be interested.

 

You basing that verdict on that one ludicrous meltdown which seemed quickly rectified? Otherwise it seems quite the leap.

[Naïve Old Fart 7,994]

20 hours ago, Quintus said:

I didn't see Obi Wan show up in Corrie either. 

 

...or make a sitcom with The Master.

 

 

8 hours ago, Bilbo said:

 

 

Raise the Titanic was exactly Citizen Kane either though. 

 

Bil, I think you mean "wasn't" 

[Bilbo 3,706]

Whoops! Fixed! 😂

[Naïve Old Fart 7,994]

11 hours ago, Bilbo said:

 

 

Raise the Titanic wasn’t exactly Citizen Kane either though. 

 

You're right, it wasn't, but the "raising" sequence is still good, and what a score!

[Bilbo 3,706]

I bought the BluRay recently purely for the score suite on the disc. 

 

I'm not sure what it was about the film that inspired Barry so much 

[toothless 955]

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/5/17093712/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-show-tolkien-peter-jackson-production-2019

[Chen G. 3,216]

That was to be expected.

 

Jackson's vision is Middle Earth.

[Barnald 364]

It'll probably be an Executive Producer role with little real creative input. Merely having his name attached to the project will be worth its weight in gold for Amazon.

[Chen G. 3,216]

The way I read it was more about the television series keeping with the continuity of the established films, which - again - was to be expected. And yes, I assume they'll have Jackson on-board the production, if only by name.

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

Quote

Amazon said that the project will “explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring,” in addition to a potential spinoff series.

 

Quote

Jackson’s attorney described the deal as a “creature of the times,” saying Amazon is “taking a page out of the studios’ emphasis on franchises.” In a world where Disney has laid out impressive, interconnected franchises with its Marvel and Star Wars properties

 

And so it begins.

 

Usually, you hear about a project like this, and you're either very excited, or cautiously optimistic, or you think it's going to suck, and you can imagine the ways it will suck.

 

This thing has the potential to suck in ways that I can't even imagine. And I can imagine quite a bit.

3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Jackson's vision is Middle Earth.

 

No, Tolkien's vision is Middle Earth.  Everything else is adaptation.

 

As much as I adore Jackson's Lord of Rings films (and they're brilliant), The Hobbit films show the limits of Jackson's "vision."  I for one would have preferred to see a completely different take on Middle Earth.

[Chen G. 3,216]

I meant vision in terms of the visual arts. For better or worst, Jackson has made a six film series spanning over 20 hours that’s a) entirely his, and b) has a fully realized, overarching narrative structure.

 

And I think it’s as good a vision of Middle Earth as we would ever see committed to screen, flaws and all.

[Incanus 5,589]

3 hours ago, Chen G. said:

I meant vision in terms of the visual arts. For better or worst, Jackson has made a six film series spanning over 20 hours that’s a) entirely his, and b) has a fully realized, overarching narrative structure.

Don't you mean John Howe's and Alan Lee's (and the art department's) vision is Peter Jackson's vision?

 

They should focus on the 4th Age in the new series. No shackles, no restaints!

[Chen G. 3,216]

If I had to guess, I’d say they’d probably focus on the events earlier in the third age. Namely, the war with Angmar, and possibly the simultaneous wars of Gondor.

 

I really hope they keep the events of the First Age for the big screen. They lend themselves to that more, I think.

[Holko 8,228]

Wasn't it kinda already confirmed it'd take place between Hobbit and LotR?

[Chen G. 3,216]

What’s there to tell in between the two? I mean, I’d love to see Balin’s death, but that’s not enough to fill a series.

[Barnald 364]

9 minutes ago, Chen G. said:

What’s there to tell in between the two? I mean, I’d love to see Balin’s death, but that’s not enough to fill a series.

 

I believe the answer to your question is 'made-up bullshit'

[Holko 8,228]

Adventures of Young Aragorn? Cast a hottie to bring in the teen girls, profit.

[Incanus 5,589]

31 minutes ago, Barnald said:

 

I believe the answer to your question is 'made-up bullshit'

Alas I have long feared that.

[Chen G. 3,216]

2 hours ago, Barnald said:

 

I believe the answer to your question is 'made-up bullshit'

 

I don’t mind made-up or embellished material in adaptations. It’s par for the course.

 

But I wouldn’t like anything to break up the viewing order between the two trilogies (a-la Rogue One). The narrative structure is pitch perfect as it is.

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

11 hours ago, Chen G. said:

And I think it’s as good a vision of Middle Earth as we would ever see committed to screen, flaws and all.

 

Like I said, I love Jackson's LOTR films...I think Fellowship is one of the few near flawless films ever made, and the other two are pretty damn close.  The first time I saw Fellowship  I said "Yes, they nailed it".  So close to how I pictured it.

 

So even given that, I think it's a bit much to say Jackson's is as good as it could possibly get. I can definitely see different filmmakers brining a new look and feel to it that might be just as as impactful as Jacksons. Those movies have their own magic and quality, but miss some of Tolkien's magic in the translation, and maybe someone else could bring a different spirit to it. For example, I for one would have like to have seen Del Toro's Hobbit...especially given how Jackson's films turned out (and I know you disagree).  So while I don't object to Jackson being an EP, I do hope that they'll get a show runner who understands the material, and has a unique vision for it. My guess is that Boyens and/or Walsh will be more involved than Jackson (though I think one of them might be working on another show now).  I'd also like to see them film in Europe, but my guess is that b/c of costs and Jacksons involvement, and a desire to set it in that "universe", we may be back to NZ. Which again, was brilliant. But we've seen that.

 

5 hours ago, Chen G. said:

If I had to guess, I’d say they’d probably focus on the events earlier in the third age. Namely, the war with Angmar, and possibly the simultaneous wars of Gondor.

 

I really hope they keep the events of the First Age for the big screen. They lend themselves to that more, I think.

 

2 hours ago, Chen G. said:

But I wouldn’t like anything to break up the viewing order between the two trilogies (a-la Rogue One). The narrative structure is pitch perfect as it is.

 

I hear you brother. I'd love to see the series take place much, much earlier in the Middle Earth time line. But my suspicion is they'll set it, at least initially, in the period between The Hobbit and LOTR. Basically for the same stupid rationale for Star Trek Discovery...they're going to assume people want to see familiar characters, places and situations.   Young Aragorn hunting for Gollum, etc.  Ugh.

 

Actually, I'm wondering how the Tolkien estate is feeling about all this now. As an organisation, and Christopher especially, hated Jackson's films.  And now he's involved again. Perhaps with Christopher's passing some of that tension has eased (I know that one of the kids, maybe Christopher's son, is a big proponent of the movies).

3 hours ago, Barnald said:

 

I believe the answer to your question is 'made-up bullshit'

 

It will almost certainly be "made-up bullshit".  

 

But how can they avoid that?

 

[Barnald 364]

Well there is potential for 'made-up intriguing stuff which is fairly reverent to Tolkien canon', but that won't happen.

 

This potential arrangement is a great way for Amazon to have their cake and eat it - the series looks to be set within Jackson's world, allowing them to 'borrow' elements, designs and perhaps even 'characters' (as depicted in that world, perhaps even the same actor), thus giving them an extremely solid platform from which to engage viewers (moreover, Jackson's films are still fresh in people's memories, and to remake LOTR would be incredibly daunting given how iconic many scenes and performances are). However, there's also scope for lots and lots of made-up bollocks since the proposed setting of the series would basically necessitate it.

[Nick1Ø66 3,827]

1 minute ago, Barnald said:

the series looks to be set within Jackson's world, allowing them to 'borrow' elements, designs and perhaps even 'characters' (as depicted in that world, perhaps even the same actor), thus giving them an extremely solid platform from which to engage viewers (moreover, Jackson's films are still fresh in people's memories, and to remake LOTR would be incredibly daunting given how iconic many scenes and performances are). However, there's also scope for lots and lots of made-up bollocks since the setting basically allows for it.

 

Sure. But that's basically what The Hobbit was, right? A story set in the Jackson's Middle Earth that used the same look, characters, sets, feel, etc....but contained a lot of made up bullshit (despite having very solid source material) because the setting allowed for it.  So that's my point. This could be good, or suck in the the ways The Hobbit sucked.

 

I don't know. The writing is going to be so key for this project.

[John 2,031]

I am hoping for a home and garden makeover series featuring the Gaffer and Sam Gamgee doing landscaping projects around the Shire.

[Barnald 364]

1 hour ago, Nick1066 said:

 

Sure. But that's basically what The Hobbit was, right? A story set in the Jackson's Middle Earth that used the same look, characters, sets, feel, etc....but contained a lot of made up bullshit (despite having very solid source material) because the setting allowed for it.  So that's my point. This could be good, or suck in the the ways The Hobbit sucked.

 

I don't know. The writing is going to be so key for this project.

 

Well I guess my point is that this would have to be really, really off the track given the confines of the source material...and you'd have something like 60 hours of it potentially.