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Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

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Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#51

Post by shmerl »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #41
shmerl wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to disagree. Very few live up to Tolkien's level. And it's not about the brand, it's about the depth of the settings he created.

Actually, there is a lot of amazingly detailed settings in fantasy novels -- much more than really good stories set in them. Heck, some fantasy series read like tourist guides through the world with little to no plot and original character development (I'm looking at you, David Eddings). One advantage of worlds like Westeros and Middle-earth is that they're pretty much immediately familiar to most Western readers: th…

I like The Witcher by Sapkoswki personally, but he also draws on familiar material.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#52

Post by BerislavLopac »

untog wrote: post #4

In case anyone was curious: > television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring So it's not going to tell the main story itself, which is probably wise given the film adaptations aren't even that old. Maybe it's just me I'm not super-excited by this news. I wish there were more original universes being created with the insane amount of TV money swirling around the…

> So it's not going to tell the main story itself, which is probably wise given the film adaptations aren't even that old.

As far as my understanding of the very complex and sad story of LotR rights goes, they can't/. In a nutshell, JRRT has sold all non-printing rights for LotrR and Hobbit a long time ago, and they are currently held by the entity (currently) called Middle-earth Enterprises [1], a division of The Saul Zaentz Company. This basically boils down to them having the final world on any derivative work that includes the characters, locations and some other elements from the novels.

The rest of the rights belong to the Tolkien Estate [2], which is a legal entity controlled primarily by Tolkien's son Christopher. The Estate have for long been opposed to any derivative works, but they have apparently changed their stance, considering they are the ones Amazon made the deal with.

So I expect we won't see any of the Fellowship, nor places like Rivendell, Moria or Minas-Tirith; but there are plenty of areas in Middle-earth with enough stories to explore -- early days of Arnor and Gondor, Dol Amroth etc.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle-earth_Enterprises

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_Estate

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#53

Post by cannonedhamster »

vlunkr wrote: post #45
untog wrote: post #4

In case anyone was curious: > television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring So it's not going to tell the main story itself, which is probably wise given the film adaptations aren't even that old. Maybe it's just me I'm not super-excited by this news. I wish there were more original universes being created with the insane amount of TV money swirling around the…

If this means they will be adapting some of the Silmarillion stories then I might be on board. There are some great sketches of stories there that unfortunately were not completed in Tolkien's lifetime. I would love to see them fleshed out. When publishing these, they try not to modify the original writings, which is nice, but also frustrating, because they aren't written in a way that Tolkien deemed them ready for p…

If they took a (less horrifying) Black Mirror approach where it was stories in the same universe that could be interesting, but I don't think it would play. There's a lot of story fruit still in LOTR universe that hasn't been plucked yet, so I think that they could do something really good that was episodic as well, but I suspect it will end up closer to "Legend of the Seeker" than something with a good, lasting story.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#54

Post by mitchty »

acdanger wrote: post #7
legohead wrote: post #5

There are so many amazing fantasy novels that need movies or TV shows. Tolkien was good, and for his time, amazing. But compared to what we have available today, I wouldn't even put him in the top 10. sigh

Care to offer any recommendations? I'm in the market for new sci-fi / fantasy lit.

I've been digging the Frontiers Saga.

http://www.frontierssaga.com

Too many of the books/episodes had me going: well i can start reading the first chapter of the next book and it'll be fine at 1am.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#55

Post by acheron »

So hold on, this is literally working with the Tolkien Estate? Is the Estate licensing further works? I assumed before now that the articles referencing the "Tolkien Estate" mostly didn't know what they were talking about, and that the deal was being worked out with the usual suspects (i.e. Saul Zaentz Company) with the Estate keeping up their same position. This makes it more interesting, I guess.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#56

Post by projectramo »

schtitt wrote: post #36
projectramo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope its not the same characters. Its hard to drum up tension for a battle when you know the hero/ine will survive.

Hm, I disagree. Usually when you read a book/watch a movie, you do have a pretty good idea who will survive. I mean, even in the original trilogy, most people knew how things would go down since the books were well known. I would say more interesting is how it goes down, and you can still have tension even if you know the final outcome. Same thing with folk tales: you know the hero is going to win, but it is still en…

I guess you have a point.

But let me try another counter: how much more enjoyable were the big scenes in Game of Thrones? I think you know the ones I am talking about.

I still enjoy rewatching Breaking Bad but the shock and recognition of watching these shows the first time is superior.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#57

Post by notacoward »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #49
notacoward wrote: post #48

I really hope when they say "preceding The Fellowship of the Ring" they still mean Third Age. The Silmarillion stuff is just too big and too unfamiliar IMO. There's plenty to cover with Dol Guldur, Gollum's capture and escape, Moria, Gandalf and Saruman, Wormtongue, Denethor, Aragorn as a younger man, etc. Going further back but still Third Age you have the breakup of Arnor and the rise of Angmar, the founding of the…

Personally I would prefer them to go even further into the early Third Age. The Fall of Arnor, the Kin-Strife -- there is a lot of epic events, with a much darker tone.

They might have to. I saw your other post, about who owns the rights, and I've also seen some of that as a LotROnline player. There might be other issues because of the movies, if MEE/SZC gave the studios exclusive (or time-exclusive) rights to the characters and settings. That still leaves a lot, though. Angmar and Dol Guldur are only alluded to in the books, not visited, which makes them Tolkien Estate territory. Gondor's a bit trickier. The kin-strife involved characters not in LotR, but the settings might be contentious. A lot depends on the specific details or the contracts among the various parties, which we don't know.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#58

Post by notacoward »

martythemaniak wrote: post #27

This could be both quite good and original. LotR takes place at the end of the Third Age and Tolkien expanded that into the three novels, but he also wrote (and his son co-wrote, edited and published) The Silmarillion, which covered everything until the end of the Third Age. I always thought The Silmarillion contained enough source material to make a dozen "LotR"s and keep everything consistent within the same univer…

Silmarillion is mostly First Age, with scant coverage given to the Second and none to the Third. Personally, even as a serious Tolkien fan in my younger days, I'd find a Silmarillion-based series totally uninteresting and would prefer just about any other part of the canon.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#59

Post by megaman22 »

username223 wrote: post #37
ehllo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think tolkien is a good option for "new" stuff, since there are many written stories in this universe about other characters and the created world by him is massive. There is also a possibility to start with his oldest book "silmarillion".

Maybe they could do the "Tale of the Children of Hurin," but the Silmarillion covers thousands of years and hundreds of characters. It would be like a multi-season adaptation of the Old Testament, i.e. a disaster.

That, or Beren and Luthien, or the fall of Gondolin, which are the most fleshed-out episodes, as far as I remember.

The exile of the Noldor could be interesting, but iirc, it's really in the form of a Germanic saga, so it would really need a lot of filling out of details and characterization.

Re: Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels

#60

Post by krapp »

cannonedhamster wrote: post #53
vlunkr wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this means they will be adapting some of the Silmarillion stories then I might be on board. There are some great sketches of stories there that unfortunately were not completed in Tolkien's lifetime. I would love to see them fleshed out. When publishing these, they try not to modify the original writings, which is nice, but also frustrating, because they aren't written in a way that Tolkien deemed them ready for p…

If they took a (less horrifying) Black Mirror approach where it was stories in the same universe that could be interesting, but I don't think it would play. There's a lot of story fruit still in LOTR universe that hasn't been plucked yet, so I think that they could do something really good that was episodic as well, but I suspect it will end up closer to "Legend of the Seeker" than something with a good, lasting stor…

We'd just end up with Sexy Shelob, though.
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