Mexal Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 This sounds terrible. I really hope they spend their money somewhere else. The LOTR movies are way too fresh and I can't see them doing anything to tell a better story at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 2 hours ago, Ferocious Veldt Roarer said: Nope, it'll fail. They simply can't get people excited about, essentially, a remake so soon after Peter Jackson's stellar success (all fan grumbling notwithstanding). Especially if they count on it to be Amazon's "killer app". The "Wow, never seen anything like that before, wow wow" effect will be impossible to achieve here. Does Bezos need a big financial loss for some tax reasons? Is it his "Springtime for Hitler"?... A pity. Instead, with only a fraction of that cash, they could do "Neverwhere" right, for example (I guess the BBC did as well as they could... within the budget of, looks like, a hundred quid per episode). Or buy the "Black Company" project. Or even go fully crazy and make something original. Don't think "our own Game of Thrones", think "our own Stranger Things". I believe there is already a Neverwhere remake in the works somewhere. Perhaps @Werthead knows since he seems to keep on top of such news. my thoughts to this are a resounding no and I did compose lengthy replies to those talking about faithfulness of Jackson before deciding this isn’t the place and besides the discussion would lead nowhere. I don’t see a need for this series so soon after Jackson’s attempt. As others have said, there are too many other books waiting for adaptation out there for me as a fan of fantasy. Somebody make me a Liveships adaptation damnit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 6 minutes ago, Mexal said: This sounds terrible. I really hope they spend their money somewhere else. The LOTR movies are way too fresh and I can't see them doing anything to tell a better story at this point. I see a lot of ways to make the plot and scripts better than Jackson’s version but they are never going to surpass things like the gorgeous New Zealand setting, the score, the talented cast etc. I mean I’m a big critic of the films and even I’m struggling to imagine anyone else but McKellan as Gandalf... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Varys Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Well, if Bezos likes to stuff like that, why not? The man could throw a billion away without it being that big of deal. If I was a billionaire I'd get what I want, too. And it is not that stuff like that is not likely to make some profit. The LotR movies are fifteen years old by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 1 minute ago, HelenaExMachina said: I see a lot of ways to make the plot and scripts better than Jackson’s version but they are never going to surpass things like the gorgeous New Zealand setting, the score, the talented cast etc. I mean I’m a big critic of the films and even I’m struggling to imagine anyone else but McKellan as Gandalf... And that is the tip of the iceberg... Who, in their sane mind, would dare to be another Galadriel or Saruman, when Blanchett and late Sir Lee owned every bit of those roles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 7 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said: I see a lot of ways to make the plot and scripts better than Jackson’s version but they are never going to surpass things like the gorgeous New Zealand setting, the score, the talented cast etc. I mean I’m a big critic of the films and even I’m struggling to imagine anyone else but McKellan as Gandalf... Yea but not enough to justify the cost or re-watching of the story. Jackson's version wasn't perfect but they were pretty great and re-making it just seems like a big mistake. Game of Thrones worked so well because it was a known property that had never been seen before. LOTR can't say the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argonath Diver Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I am totally baffled at this news. As much as I like to say I am a book fan first, over the last ten years I've read LotR once, and seen the movies probably eight times or so each, with a bunch of random nights where I'd throw in a great scene or two. I understand their flaws, but I just cannot imagine anyone else ever playingGandalf again. Same goes for like 2/3s of the cast. Unless Ran is onto something that they're going to use the Appendix as a springboard, and throw in loads of non-canon content that scores of book fans would loathe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 The adaptation likely wouldn't hit the screens until 2020, maybe 2021, by which time Fellowship will be 20 years old (whimper). There's certainly an argument that that kind of timescale is appropriate to begin considering a fresh version. There was 23 years between the Bakshi and Jackson movies, for example. That said, that normally doesn't apply to something as iconic as LotR. Those movies were utterly transformative in a way very few movies are. The original Star Wars trilogy, The Matrix etc at the only other films really in that league. If you want to remake them it would be because either you have a dramatically different interpretation in mind (i.e. original BSG to neo-BSG) - and I don't see how that can work for an adaptation of pre-existing books - or because the original wasn't very successful - not the case here - or the original version left stuff out. The extended versions of the LotR trilogy are 11 hours long already. You add in say an hour for the Barrow-wights and Tom Bombadil, another 2-3 hours for the Scouring of the Shire and...then what? I don't see how they're going to get multiple seasons out of this, unless it's 6 hour-long episodes per book and they really do everything that's on the page. But is that really necessary? What does that give you that Jackson's versions don't, considering the probability of having a less impressive cast, production design and location filming? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slurktan Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Ran said: Seeing at least one media academic/critic -- Myles McNutt -- who agrees that this sounds bizzare. I really don't know what to make of the fact that Bezos is personally involved in negotiating, beyond the fact that he's dead serious. I mean, maybe... if the pitch isn't exactly for LotR, but specifically for one particular appendix of LotR, which might explain the bit about the rights including a limited number of characters: what if they're pitching an Aragorn-Arwen focused series loosely inspired by "The Tale of Aragorn and Arwen"? I recall fans have mused about a "prequel" featuring Aragorn -- as I recall, Jackson even asked Mortensen about appearing in THE HOBBIT, which Viggo turned down -- and I suppose you could construct stories around the Dúnedain, the elves of Rivendell, etc... But that would be anathema. It'd make more financial sense than a literal re-adaptation of LotR, but it's just... no. They could also do something like they are doing with the video games Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War and make shit up and be a prequel to the movies or a sequel. Or they could do a straight Hobbit - Aragorns adventures in Rohan, gondor, Umbar - Balins deep dive - fellowship - complete war of the ring (including Battles of dale and mirkwood) etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myshkin Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Sounds exceptionally boring to me. We’ve seen it all before, why would anyone want to sit through 50, 60, 70 more hours of it? At least with something like Spider-Man each reboot can tell a different story. Not so with LotR. Would much rather see an adaptation of WoT, or even something like Thomas Covenant. Actually, I’d kill to see a Covenant adaptation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slurktan Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 14 minutes ago, Myshkin said: Sounds exceptionally boring to me. We’ve seen it all before, why would anyone want to sit through 50, 60, 70 more hours of it? At least with something like Spider-Man each reboot can tell a different story. Not so with LotR. Would much rather see an adaptation of WoT, or even something like Thomas Covenant. Actually, I’d kill to see a Covenant adaptation. Sure but why would anyone want to reread the same book over again? Or watch the same movie? Why would you want to watch the Jackson movies again? Seems exceptionally boring. Oh wait because a good story is a good story. Maybe we will get worse actors, or better actors (Give me an Aragorn that is actually Aragorn please), or better writing or worse writing. Who knows. It will be different. I won't have to see Sam ridiculously give up and try to go home after Frodo tells him to go home. Maybe I wont have to see Saruman fall off Orthanc onto a slowly turning wheel at the start of a third movie (but not originally!) Or Smaug chase around dwarves like a fucking idiot for 20 minutes. Or maybe I will! Maybe any new film maker will not be as fucking stupid as Jackson. Or maybe they will be. But it will be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Leave it to this crowd to piss on news this fucking exciting. I for one am very interested to see where this leads. It has the potential to be *gasp* more faithful than what Jackson produced? TV is certainly a better format than movies to tell a story as expansive as LOTR. Why not give it a chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 17 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said: Why not give it a chance? Why not give something else a chance? And like Wert pointed out, the books aren't that expansive that multiple seasons seem like a necessary idea. I mean, if you made three six-episode, hour-long per ep, seasons, even that would seem like a stretch. If one fifteen episode or so series is the plan, that works, but it's not a great deal longer than the movies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 19 minutes ago, polishgenius said: Why not give something else a chance? And like Wert pointed out, the books aren't that expansive that multiple seasons seem like a necessary idea. I mean, if you made three six-episode, hour-long per ep, seasons, even that would seem like a stretch. If one fifteen episode or so series is the plan, that works, but it's not a great deal longer than the movies. Exactly... I mean, even Jackson's movies are a bit stretched by the end. The worst thing is that we are moving backwards. In 2009, GoT was presented as "Sorpanos in Middle-Earth". In 2017, we have LOTR being Amazon's "new Game of Thrones". WTF happened with Hollywood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrum Aeternum Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 40 minutes ago, polishgenius said: Why not give something else a chance? Suggest something that will have the same draw as a new LOTR TV series. Go ahead, I'll wait as long as you like. I love how y'all think Jackson's vision is the be-all and end-all of LOTR visual storytelling after it was so roundly criticized by fans of the books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 9 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said: Suggest something that will have the same draw as a new LOTR TV series. Go ahead, I'll wait as long as you like. Well, if being super-popular right out of the gate is what you judge the worthiness of TV shows on, then great, but that's really the least important metric except in so far as a show needs to be popular enough not to get cancelled. And I'm fairly sure Amazon has the punch to build a following for anything. 11 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said: I love how y'all think Jackson's vision is the be-all and end-all of LOTR visual storytelling after it was so roundly criticized by fans of the books. I mean, I literally said in this topic that I think a TV show could possibly improve on the films, but it's just too soon. But you do you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myshkin Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 5 minutes ago, Ferrum Aeternum said: Suggest something that will have the same draw as a new LOTR TV series. Go ahead, I'll wait as long as you like. I love how y'all think Jackson's vision is the be-all and end-all of LOTR visual storytelling after it was so roundly criticized by fans of the books. The Fast and Furious movies have enormous draw, doesn’t mean they’re any good. Just because a LotR tv show will likely draw a huge audience doesn’t mean we can’t think it sounds boring or bad. Now if you would like me to suggest something that sounds like it would make for a better tv show, well that would be a long list that would include just about every decent fantasy series written in the last 50 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 I think a WBesque handling of say an adolescent Sauron, Saruman, Gandalf, Galadrial and Elrond and the like might just be so insane and sacrosanct that you'd practically have to watch it. Dol Guldur High or some shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 20 minutes ago, Myshkin said: The Fast and Furious movies have enormous draw, doesn’t mean they’re any good. You shut your mouth! You changed my mind. I'll be all in on this TV reboot just as long as Justin Lin is in charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Ferrum Aeternum said: Suggest something that will have the same draw as a new LOTR TV series. Go ahead, I'll wait as long as you like. Harry Potter, which I already mentioned. Hell, even a remake of the books rather than an original story strikes me as more plausible. The film adaptations were uneven, never received the level of critical or awards notice of LotR, it's been 16 years since the first film (if it's not too soon for a LotR remake, it's not too soon for a Potter remake), I'm assuming they cut a lot of minor incidents to fit then into films, and I feel the mania over the actors has greatly lessened while the interest in the setting remains very high. Amazon should be talking to WB and Rowling about that, not LotR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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