UPDATE: Amazon has struck a deal to produce multiple seasons of the show. Beating out the likes of Netflix and HBO, the company had to pay an oliphaunt-sized fee for the rights before any development can take place, so expect this to end up the most expensive TV series made to date. "We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord Of The Rings," said the Tolkien Estate's Matt Galsor. "Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings." Previously unexplored is the tantalising nugget there, and Amazon's own PR blurb on the deal says the following: "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." And no, they don't mean The Hobbit. That's been done.
JRR Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings is one of those great "unfilmable" novels, a sprawling fantasy that people have tried to make into movies but none... Hang on... Peter who? Two trilogies? Oscars? Oh, right. Those. But despite the presence of some very successful movies, Variety reports that Amazon wants to make a TV adaptation of the books.
It would be a huge undertaking, but fits right in Amazon's plans to make its own Game Of Thrones, a big, potentially popular title that could become a pop culture sensation if done correctly.
Warner Bros. – which has apparently worked out at least some of the issues between it and Tolkien's estate – is offering a big deal to an outlet, and Amazon is on talks. While TV could certainly be a fitting (if expensive) home for Tolkien's tales, with the ability to include the elements that Jackson and his co-writers had to excise to keep the running times down, there's still a very long shadow cast by the hugely successful pair of trilogies.
The Lord Of The Rings At 15: The Fellowship Interview Each Other