(Newswire.net — November 29, 2017) — No one was all that surprised by Amazon’s announcement that a new Lord Of The Rings adaptation was in the works. It’s a cash cow, that has the potential to be Amazon’s Game Of Thrones (a title they already gave to American Gods, but anyway). People will definitely watch it, because the franchise is so beloved.
Amazon needs it to be a success, because streaming services now sink or swim by the content they create (especially outside of the US, where you need an Amazon VPN to access most of their non-original content). They also need it to be a success because they’re pouring a huge amount of money into it. $150 million for the rights alone (which JRR Tolkien’s estate had been shipping to the highest bidder). The cost of making the series will be enormous.
But at this point, can it be a success?
The problem with a LOTR series is that the movies already cover seasons’ worth of content. This adaptation will be about a time between The Hobbit and LOTR, but have we not already seen it all?
The 3 original LOTR movies were a great success, because they were the big budget adaptation the books deserved. The money spent was justified, and splitting it into 3 long movies was necessary.
The Hobbit effect
But by splitting the comparatively minute The Hobbit into 3 movies, they introduced an element of cynicism in fans. It seemed obvious that the extra content was gratuitous this time, a way to make 3 movie’s worth of money from one tiny book.
While plenty of storytelling (and a lot more money) was thrown in, the series had mixed reviews. Fans got bored, especially with the final installment. Martin Freeman’s a great actor, but his limited facial expressions wear on you after a time.
Irritating Tolkien superfans
Now, in creating an entirely new story (this time period apparently appeared in none of his works), the creators of this series are not only risking putting off casual fans who were bored by The Hobbit, but alienating serious fans who will refuse to consider it a legitimate part of Tolkien’s corpus.
The potential to irritate fans should not be underestimated. If there’s one thing fans do not like it’s their favorite work being bastardized by someone just out to make money. Sometimes that person is the author him or herself. There are even Harry Potter fans who wish that JK Rowling would let the franchise go.
This series stinks of people just trying to make money off Tolkien’s works. No one is expecting anything true to the material or integral to the world that exists in the hearts of every lover of Middle Earth.
With talks of a spinoff already in place, we can expect a long succession of LOTR material that no one was asking for.