Amazon's Lord of the Rings casts Spartacus actor - Redanian Intelligence
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Vouthon
Guest
An overview of the show set to start shooting in Auckland, New Zealand next month:
Apparently it’ll be the most expensive television production in history, nearly a billion dollars overall (including the price of the adaption rights from the Tolkien Estate, which were priced at a cool 250 million dollars I believe).
They’ve been pretty quiet about it thus far but the show behind shooting next month in New Zealand.
The full cast hasn’t yet been announced, a few key roles are yet to be cast, but 15 actors have been officially confirmed already. I reckon they’ll be reserving these later roles for more famous actors. (Amazon’s other show currently in filming, The Wheel of Time - another big fantasy adaption - has Rosamund Pike as it’s lead).
Until recently, I feel like Amazon Prime have been sort of trailing Netflix in the streaming wars but recently their originals have been very good - such as The Boys and The Expanse (picked up from Syfy).
At least whatever they produce should be a vast improvement on the Hobbit movies (I hope, they were dreadful!), even if it fails to measure up to the standard set by the original LotR trilogy.
Apparently it’ll be the most expensive television production in history, nearly a billion dollars overall (including the price of the adaption rights from the Tolkien Estate, which were priced at a cool 250 million dollars I believe).
They’ve been pretty quiet about it thus far but the show behind shooting next month in New Zealand.
The full cast hasn’t yet been announced, a few key roles are yet to be cast, but 15 actors have been officially confirmed already. I reckon they’ll be reserving these later roles for more famous actors. (Amazon’s other show currently in filming, The Wheel of Time - another big fantasy adaption - has Rosamund Pike as it’s lead).
Until recently, I feel like Amazon Prime have been sort of trailing Netflix in the streaming wars but recently their originals have been very good - such as The Boys and The Expanse (picked up from Syfy).
At least whatever they produce should be a vast improvement on the Hobbit movies (I hope, they were dreadful!), even if it fails to measure up to the standard set by the original LotR trilogy.
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TK421
Guest
So is this going to be a reboot of the Lord of the Rings through a single season series? Or is it some other stories based on Middle Earth? Or do we not know?
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Vouthon
Guest
Not a reboot of LotR itself, it’s been announced by the Amazon Prime Twitter account that the story will be set during the Second Age of Middle-earth:
That’s the time period covered in the original LotR prologue to Jackson’s films, with Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) doing the voice-over:
They released a map of the early to mid Second Age of Tolkien’s legendarium with Númenor on it (far bottom left), which suggests that the deal with the Tolkien Estate covered rights for more than just the LotR Appendices, at the very least Unfinished Tales.
No other details about the plot have yet been released but surely will be shortly given that filming begins in a matter of weeks now.
It’s also going to be a multi-season affair, I believe they signed up for 5 seasons and the second season is apparently getting filmed backed to back with the first one this year.
That’s the time period covered in the original LotR prologue to Jackson’s films, with Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) doing the voice-over:
They released a map of the early to mid Second Age of Tolkien’s legendarium with Númenor on it (far bottom left), which suggests that the deal with the Tolkien Estate covered rights for more than just the LotR Appendices, at the very least Unfinished Tales.
No other details about the plot have yet been released but surely will be shortly given that filming begins in a matter of weeks now.
It’s also going to be a multi-season affair, I believe they signed up for 5 seasons and the second season is apparently getting filmed backed to back with the first one this year.
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TK421
Guest
They’re banking a lot of money on it being a success. The LotR brand was damaged after the Hobbit trilogy.
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Vouthon
Guest
Yeah, as I noted earlier they were absolutely awful adaptions.
At the very least that’s set an optimally low bar after the optimal high of the original trilogy.
Jackson, I should note, has no involvement with this new Amazon production. So it will be interesting to see what a non-Jackson influenced Middle-earth looks like on the small screen, if anything else.
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TK421
Guest
If it’s set in a completely different age they’ll have a lot of freedom to flesh out characters and a big plot.
The #1 problem with the Hobbit trilogy is that it had no business being a trilogy so they filled up lots of time with video game-esque action scenes.
The #1 problem with the Hobbit trilogy is that it had no business being a trilogy so they filled up lots of time with video game-esque action scenes.
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Vouthon
Guest
Indeed, I heard it was a studio decision and that the original plan had been for two films - although even that was a butchering of Tolkien’s very slender children’s book.
And the CGI also sucked, it actually locked worse than the trilogy despite being more than a decade on, weirdly enough.
Lindsay Ellis did a great three part YouTube documentary on the dark consumerism behind the Hobbit movies back in 2018:
It’s now got over 2 million views. Was really damning.
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TK421
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commenter
Guest
Will it include the material in the Silmarillion?
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GKMotley
Guest
Killing the Mouth didn’t bother me. But I would have changed a number of things.
Still, it’s the best adaptation of the books I’m going to see.
As to The Hobbit. Yep. Some jewels embedded in a matrix I don’t want to think about.
Still, it’s the best adaptation of the books I’m going to see.
As to The Hobbit. Yep. Some jewels embedded in a matrix I don’t want to think about.
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commenter
Guest
I hope they include the Scouring of the Shire. It was omitted in the versions I have seen.
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GKMotley
Guest
There you go. And the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth.
And TOM BOMBADIL.
And TOM BOMBADIL.
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commenter
Guest
I understand why the versions thus far dropped the Scouring. It’s near the end of the story. The movie makers wanted to have the defeat of Sauron as the climax.
But any Christian knows besides the external evil, we carry in us effects of original sin. We still have need for courage for that struggle, even in our home town.
But any Christian knows besides the external evil, we carry in us effects of original sin. We still have need for courage for that struggle, even in our home town.
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GKMotley
Guest
I was inclined to beat the movie makers with a stick.
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TK421
Guest
I legitimately think the Lord of the Rings would make a great semi-musical (like how animated Disney movies have a movie with some songs thrown in). You could easily take some of the written poems or songs in the books and adapt them to a song in a movie.
When I read the Lord of the Rings as an adolescent I tended to breeze over those parts of the books to get to the heroic stuff, but as an adult I like it a lot more.
When I read the Lord of the Rings as an adolescent I tended to breeze over those parts of the books to get to the heroic stuff, but as an adult I like it a lot more.
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GKMotley
Guest
Of course. The world is fallen and full of these sorts of frustrations.
My art collection includes an acrylic painting of the scene of Tom saving the hobbits from the barrow-wight. Done by a professional artist friend of mine. It would look nice adapted for the screen.
My art collection includes an acrylic painting of the scene of Tom saving the hobbits from the barrow-wight. Done by a professional artist friend of mine. It would look nice adapted for the screen.
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GKMotley
Guest
He was in the Mind’s Eye audio adaptation, which, along with 2-3 others, is in my collection
That vintage computer game wouldn’t be the Interplay version, would it? I had both of those, but loaned out my disc and never got it back. And no way to load the floppies. Loved the game.
That vintage computer game wouldn’t be the Interplay version, would it? I had both of those, but loaned out my disc and never got it back. And no way to load the floppies. Loved the game.
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GKMotley
Guest
I’m old enough to have a fond memory for text games, as did my daughter, who got all the floppies when I bought retro collections. And all the TI-99 games, too.
There was at least one other LOTR flavored game we had, basically little more than a shooter. But the two Interplay games were great.
Of course, I was younger in the early 90s.
There was at least one other LOTR flavored game we had, basically little more than a shooter. But the two Interplay games were great.
Of course, I was younger in the early 90s.
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GKMotley
Guest
Which is why I keep so much of my past around me. A little insulation.
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