Amazon Has Committed To Five Seasons of THE LORD OF THE RINGS Series and it Will Cost Them $1 Billion to Produce
Some new information regarding Amazon's The Lord of the Rings series has come to light thanks to THR. As you know, Amazon Studio paid $250 million for the right s to J.R.R. Tolkien's novels and it looks like it will be one of the most expansive series ever. Amazon has committed to a five-season run and when all is said and done, it is expected to cost over $1 billion.
Greenberg Glusker attorney Matt Galsor, who served as the chief architect of the deal and repped the Tolkien estate, talked about the deal saying:
"This is the most complicated deal I've ever seen, but it was handled relatively quickly, in a way that brought the parties together in a close relationship. It was tough, but everybody liked each other and felt like a team more as the deal closed."
The report goes on to say that Amazon may use material from the films in the series, so New Line co-president Carolyn Blackwood and Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich were brought into the deal-making process.
As far as director Peter Jackson's involvement with the series goes, it seems like he is welcome to be an executive producer on the series, but it remains to be seen if he'll be involved at all. Jackson's attorney Peter Nelson talked about the deal saying:
"It's very much a creature of the times. We are in an era where streamers are bidding up the price of programming. I think Amazon is taking a page out of the studios' emphasis on franchises. They also are realizing that with the overproduction of television, you need to get the eyeballs to the screen, and you can do that with franchise titles."
Amazon is spending a lot of money on properties that have franchise opportunities. They are also looking at developing another billion dollar series called The Three-Body Problem, which you can read about here. They are also developing a Conan The Barbarian series that isn't going to be cheap to produce either.
All we know about the Lord of the Rings series at this point is what was previously reported:
Set in Middle Earth, the television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal includes a potential additional spin-off series.
I'm a huge fan of this story, and with the money and effort that is being put into developing this series, I can't wait to see how it turns out! Are you excited about Amazon's Lord of the Rings series?