HBO Passed on THE LORD OF THE RINGS Series and Here's Why
Last month the big news hit that Amazon Studios snatched up the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and they are developing a series around it. It was explained:
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.
HBO was one of many networks that considered getting in on the action, but they ultimately passed on the opportunity to involve themselves in the bidding war. Why? Because they already have a big-budget fantasy franchise with Game of Thrones!
CEO Richard Plepler recently talked about their decision to pass on The Lord of the Rings property, saying:
“I’d rather own our IP [intellectual property] 100%… and I’d rather have the ability to work with a product that is inextricably linked to our brand.”
That totally makes sense! Game of Thrones is such an awesome franchise and they've done an incredible job with the series. Even though Game of Thrones is coming to an end with Season 8, the cable network is currently developing five different possible prequel series in various stages of development.
The big question is, will any of these spinoff series be as good and as successful as the original series? That has yet to be seen, but there's a big audience out there waiting to see what HBO does next with this epic fantasy world. Whatever HBO ends up moving forward with, I'm sure it will be great!
Yeah, it would have been cool to see HBO take on The Lord of the Rings, but Amazon has developed some great series and I think the franchise is in good hands with them.
Via: Variety