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LOTR prequel TV series 2.0


The Marquis de Leech

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6 hours ago, Werthead said:

They don't have the rights to The Hobbit, as MGM part-owns those rights and Amazon did not want to repeat New Line's nightmare experience of dealing with them

I really don't get how MGM still exists as an independent entity - especially after filing Chapter 11.  Why haven't they been subsumed or whatever?  I mean, it's not like anyone cares about RKO or Jack Warner, why are they the last remaining relic?

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On 8/11/2019 at 1:58 PM, Krishtotter said:

The Downfall of Númenor is, quite literally, a 'nightmare' in its conception by the author - I mean, it leads up to the drowning of an entire island-continent under a colossal deluge at the behest of a human-sacrificing high priest (actually a fallen-divine-being in a fair guise) who convinces the population to become, effectively, devil-worshippers and subjugate the entire world, including the abode of the Valar themselves in a vain attempt to gain earthly immortality

 

It was also given to Faramir in LOTR (although dream-stealing Eowyn described it in the film).

I have to date avoided allowing myself any hope* that this series will give me anything positive or worth having from the source material.

*lol there is always hope

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Cannot speak to how reliable the source is be this cropped up today

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According to sources close to We Got This Covered – the same ones who told us Ewan McGregor was returning as Obi-Wan and that Bill Murray will be inGhostbusters 3 – the series will cover Sauron’s slow rise to power over its multi-season run, leading up to (or going beyond) the moment when Isildur battles Sauron, defeating him using his father’s broken sword Narsil and cutting the One Ring from Sauron’s fingers. It’s a moment audiences will be familiar with from the introductory sequence of The Fellowship of the Ring.

 

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4 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

https://deadline.com/2019/11/the-lord-of-the-rings-series-renewed-season-2-amazon-early-renewal-season-1-hiatus-writers-room-reassembled-1202788730/

Renewed for Season 2. Plus, a filming hiatus after episodes one and two are wrapped (which is apparently normal. Huh, the more you know!)

 

I guess it makes sense in terms of seeing what the footage is and making sure they don't have a trainwreck before making a whole 1-2 seasons. I wonder if there'll be any lucky folk getting to see the episodes as part of a test audience? 

As the article suggests it's not really a surprise given the money they've paid for the rights and the fact that the contract was for multiple seasons that season 2 has been greenlit. I think the WOT S2 greenlight meant more.

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https://observer.com/2019/11/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-series-cast-characters-details-amazon/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Exclusive: Main Characters for Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Revealed?

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Observer has now learned a bit more about the show’s handful of lead characters who will populate new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.

Poulter is said to be playing Beldor, an optimistic, intelligent and political savvy protagonist who is nonetheless more reserved than his on-screen counterparts. Beldor will often be the straight-man in pairings with more out-sized personalities and, while young, will possess a gravitas that belies a character who could be far older.

Kavenagh is said to be playing Tyra, a wide-eye characterful young teenage woman with a strength and maturity beyond her years. Tyra will provide a mix of dramatic and comedic elements.

Mawle is said to be playing Oren, a villain who can also evoke a deep sense of pathos built around a wounded and fallen nobility. Though the character is middle-aged, Oren will possess a certain degree of physicality and project a sense of timelessness.

Interestingly, sources tell Observer that the true main character in Amazon’s blockbuster Lord of the Rings TV series is Eldien. She is described as a complex, unique and formidable young woman in her mid-20s who possesses an eternal quality and a strong physical component. Negotiations are said to be underway for the role.

Amazon did not respond to Observer’s request for comment.

Other series regulars may include Neldor, a similar archetype as Beldor; Brac, the irascible and cantankerous half of a dramatic duo; Eira, a warm and maternal woman; Aric, a charismatic character with a strong physical role; Calenon, a ruggedly-handsome and brooding soldier hero; Loda, an earthy man who doesn’t give his feelings away easily; Kari, a self-sufficient single mother and village healer with a secret; Hamson, a kind and loving family man with health issues; and Cole, a charismatic but mercurial young man who has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

 

https://redanianintelligence.com/2019/11/27/new-audition-tapes-for-amazons-lord-of-the-rings-hint-numenor/

New audition tapes for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings hint at Númenor

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Amazon has spared no expense in bringing its new Lord of the Rings enterprise – set during the Second Age of Middle Earth – to life. A month back we discovered four audition tapes for some of the show’s leading roles, and now we can share six more with you.

As is common with auditions, these scenes are likely fake dialogues and will not appear in the show as such. Neither will the actors you see in them, for that matter. Audition videos are only uploaded by actors who did not get the part. That being said, the videos offer an intriguing look into the first season of the Lord of the Rings series, which seems to be delving into themes of imperialism and rebellion.

The auditions we found align with some of the new roles recently revealed by Observer.com.

Brac

The first first two videos are auditions for the character Brac described by The Observer as “the irascible and catankerous half of a dramatic duo”. Both scenes are seemingly set against the background of a past war, with Brac belonging to the conquered people. Interestingly, there is talk of a queen, and the second scene makes it clear that the invaders came from the west. Very likely, they refer to the Númenóreans who colonized the people of Minhiriath and Enedwaith during the Second Age. As for the queen, there is of course Tar-Ancalimë, seventh ruler and first ruling queen of Númenór, who comes to mind.

Kari

Next, we have Kari, a “self-sufficient single mother and village healer with a secret”. In her two scenes she is speaking to a man named Everad, evidently her lover and also a foreigner who came to her lands as a soldier. One sentence that caught our ear is when Everad talks a about a “long rebellion” that started in these parts in “ages past”. 

Kari might be one of the people conquered by the Númenóreans who rose in rebellion against them in the past.

For the audition tapes, watch this one for scene one and these two for scene two.

 

 

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The above character list sounds a bit like CW character design with all these young teens running around trying to save middle-earth from the middle-aged villain. No idea how strong the observer track record is but i'd hope the actual characters are a bit more diverse in terms of "young folk with hidden inner age/wisdom" unless they are just trying to reflect elves and the very long-lived human races.

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1 hour ago, red snow said:

The above character list sounds a bit like CW character design with all these young teens running around trying to save middle-earth from the middle-aged villain. No idea how strong the observer track record is but i'd hope the actual characters are a bit more diverse in terms of "young folk with hidden inner age/wisdom" unless they are just trying to reflect elves and the very long-lived human races.

I reckon the Observor has simply read the mock audition scripts and judged its character traits off of them (the descriptions do match the videos leaked by RI but none of the descriptions go beyond them). 

The characters, indeed, come across soap-opera-esque but the audition scripts are not liable to reflect the real thing precisely.

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1 hour ago, Krishtotter said:

I reckon the Observor has simply read the mock audition scripts and judged its character traits off of them (the descriptions do match the videos leaked by RI but none of the descriptions go beyond them). 

The characters, indeed, come across soap-opera-esque but the audition scripts are not liable to reflect the real thing precisely.

That makes more sense. Casting i imagine is mostly focused on the feel/vibe off the actor rather than the be all and end all of the character

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9 hours ago, red snow said:

That makes more sense. Casting i imagine is mostly focused on the feel/vibe off the actor rather than the be all and end all of the character

I would also note (as a necessary health warning) that the Star Wars auditions a couple of years back, had lead characters under the names "Rachel" and "Bill", discussing things like: "there's a barn over there....I don't like blood...your a squemish girl...we need to get some food in you...I'm not hungry...it wasn't a request".

(That's legit the verbatim lines from the mock audition script for 'Rachel' - Rey).

Here's an actual tape for to compare with these LotR ones:

https://youtu.be/a2XB0NHF-gs

This is just standard practice in the industry and we know for sure that Amazon have done the same for WoT (fake / manipulated names, fake / messed up dialogue and scenes that often deliberately warp, obscure or outright change the actual plot).

Its designed to test the actor's range, ability to convey certain key emotions, intonation and inflection etc. Choppy dialogue is particularly conducive for testing an actor's ability to swiftly change and emote under difficult conditions.

At the very least, Amazon seem to have had more fun with their mock audition scripts than the ultra-mundane Star Wars ones. They give us more to speculate on than 'Rachel' and 'Bob' chatting about food, blood and barns.

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28 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Beldor and Neldor sound like names from a Tolkien parody.  

Neldor is an anagram of 'Elrond' as is almost 'Beldor' as well. 

The two names are said to represent characters with the same 'archetype', and Will Poulter - who looks awfully similar to Hugo Weaving - has been cast as 'Beldor', a reserved, wise Elf who was too young himself to fight in the War of Wrath (based on the scripts) but old enough at the time to watch others fight....

Elrond and Elros? 

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If Elros is neldor or beldor and is still around, then it’s very early in the second age, ie first 500 years and millennia away from ar-pharazon, Saurons captivity and the fall. The casting does have a worrying soap opera texture to it. How they are going to handle the passage of time will make or break this. It’s an extremely challenging project. 

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19 minutes ago, Valandil said:

If Elros is neldor or beldor and is still around, then it’s very early in the second age, ie first 500 years

Or, Elros could appear only at the beginning (in a prologue explaining the foundation of Númenor after the War of Wrath and the choices of the Half-Elven brothers to join different races?) and maybe only in memory-flashbacks thereafter?

Since Elros elects to become 'human/subject to the Doom of Man' and was Númenor's first king (and thus the cause of both the Elvish strain in the royal bloodline and of his successors' bitterly-rued mortality) and Elrond joins the Eldar, I think this is important backstory to establish.

Yep, the casting descriptions are soap-opera-level stuff - but none of these are official. They are based, so far as can be deduced, on the audition scripts (which are not, under ordinary industry standards, bound to be actual drafts of the real script but rather mock-ups). So I wouldn't worry about that at this stage.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Will bring the links along in due course but couple of developments;

Poulter is apparently dropping out due to scheduling conflicts. https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a30214118/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-will-poulter-exit/

 

Another role has been filled, this one by Ema Hovarth: https://deadline.com/2019/12/ema-horvath-cast-the-lord-of-the-rings-amazon-series-1202806025/

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2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Will bring the links along in due course but couple of developments;

Poulter is apparently dropping out due to scheduling conflicts. https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a30214118/amazon-lord-of-the-rings-tv-series-will-poulter-exit/

That's a shame.  I thought he'd be great in it, whether it's Elrond or not.  But how the hell do you let scheduling conflicts bar you from what's probably the most expensive series ever?  Unless he thinks the script sucks and this is an excuse to get out.

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https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-series-galadriel-morfydd-clark-1203446284/

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“His Dark Materials” star Morfydd Clark has landed a lead role in Amazon’s upcoming “Lord of the Rings” series.

She joins a cast that includes Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle and Maxim Baldry. Sources say Clark will play young Galadriel, the character famously portrayed by Cate Blanchett in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” films. This would mark one of the first major characters from the book or film announced for the show.

Amazon declined to comment. Reps for Mawle did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.

 

 

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