> television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring
So it's not going to tell the main story itself, which is probably wise given the film adaptations aren't even that old.
Maybe it's just me I'm not super-excited by this news. I wish there were more original universes being created with the insane amount of TV money swirling around these days. This just feels like a very safe "me too Game of Thrones" play.
- The Expanse
- American Gods, Good Omens
- Kingkiller Chronicles (being produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda)
- Wheel of Time
However, if you mean the former, then I agree, although there are new shows, they just don't have high budgets like those with followings already.
Sweet, maybe we'll get book 3 on TV before in print like Game of Thrones!
The only real hope I have is that it feels like Rothfuss wouldn't let his series be finished by TV in the way GoT has for ASOIF. Also Rothfuss claimed to have a 'finished manuscript' in 2014, so there is hope.
As far as my understanding of the very complex and sad story of LotR rights goes, they can't/. In a nutshell, JRRT has sold all non-printing rights for LotrR and Hobbit a long time ago, and they are currently held by the entity (currently) called Middle-earth Enterprises [1], a division of The Saul Zaentz Company. This basically boils down to them having the final world on any derivative work that includes the characters, locations and some other elements from the novels.
The rest of the rights belong to the Tolkien Estate [2], which is a legal entity controlled primarily by Tolkien's son Christopher. The Estate have for long been opposed to any derivative works, but they have apparently changed their stance, considering they are the ones Amazon made the deal with.
So I expect we won't see any of the Fellowship, nor places like Rivendell, Moria or Minas-Tirith; but there are plenty of areas in Middle-earth with enough stories to explore -- early days of Arnor and Gondor, Dol Amroth etc.
The exile of the Noldor could be interesting, but iirc, it's really in the form of a Germanic saga, so it would really need a lot of filling out of details and characterization.
When publishing these, they try not to modify the original writings, which is nice, but also frustrating, because they aren't written in a way that Tolkien deemed them ready for publishing. What I would really love is for them to publish the originals, but also give them to other fantasy authors and let them adapt it into a complete novel. A TV show is less exciting (for me), but could be interesting.
No more than Game of Thrones was a "me too Lord of the Rings" play. I mean, seriously, Tolkien's work was first in both book and movie/TV form.
Its hard to drum up tension for a battle when you know the hero/ine will survive.
But let me try another counter: how much more enjoyable were the big scenes in Game of Thrones? I think you know the ones I am talking about.
I still enjoy rewatching Breaking Bad but the shock and recognition of watching these shows the first time is superior.