There may not be many confirmed details about what the ambitious new small screen adaptation of Lord Of The Rings will feature, but we do at least know who will be in charge of its creative direction: writers Patrick McKay and JD Payne were confirmed as the showrunners during Amazon's weekend panel at the TCA summer press tour.
Amazon has a lot riding on this one – the series is rumoured to be costing a whopping $500 million between the rights deal and the production spending – so this won't be an easy task. The series will be set once again in Middle-earth, but is looking to chronicle events that took place before the story adapted for the LOTR movies.
"The rich world that JRR Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity," the writing partners said in a statement. "We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Amazon to bring it to life anew. We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care — it is the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime."
Don't expect to sit down and watch the show all that soon, though: it's not expected to hit the streaming service util 2021. The writers, meanwhile, are behind the latest Star Trek film (not the Quentin Tarantino planned one), which is now at the casting stage.
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