Jump to content

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Amazon Prime


Michael Knight

Recommended Posts

  • 2 months later...
4 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Well let’s start the insanity!

The press release is insane

Burbank, CA — May 9, 2024 – Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group’s Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy announced today the Oscar-winning team behind the nearly $6 billion blockbuster Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyensare reuniting to produce two new films from Tolkien’s Middle Earth for Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema.

The first of the two films Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum(*WT)will be directed by and star Andy Serkis (Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle), with Walsh and Boyens set to write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim). The film will be executive produced by Ken Kamins, with Serkis and The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish.

Said De Luca and Abdy, “For over two-decades, moviegoers have embraced the Lord of the Rings film trilogy because of the undeniable devotion Peter, Fran and Philippa have shown towards protecting the legacy of Tolkien’s works, and to ensure audiences could experience the incredible world he created in a way that honors his literary vision. We are honored they have agreed be our partners on these two new films. With Andy coming aboard to direct Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum(*WT), we continue an important commitment to excellence that is a true hallmark of how we all want to venture ahead and further contribute to the Lord of the Rings cinematic history.”

Said Jackson, Walsh and Boyens, “It is an honour and a privilege to travel back to Middle-earth with our good friend and collaborator, Andy Serkis, who has unfinished business with that Stinker – Gollum! As life long fans of Professor Tolkien’s vast mythology, we are proud to be working with Mike De Luca, Pam Abdy and the entire team at Warner Bros. on another epic adventure!”

Said Serkis, ““Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa,” said Serkis.  “With Mike and Pam, and the Warner Bros team on the quest as well, alongside WETA and our film making family in New Zealand, it’s just all too delicious…”.   

The announcement of the new films follows the previously announced New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Animation’s anime feature film Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim opening this Christmas. Directed by Award winning filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama (Blade Runner: Black Lotus and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series), the film is produced by Boyens, Joseph Chou (Blade Runner: Black Lotus), and Jason DeMarco.

The writing team of Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou penned the Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim screenplay based on a script from Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews. The Lord of the Rings returning creative team also includes Oscar winners Alan Lee and Richard Taylor, along with esteemed Tolkien illustrator John Howe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Said Serkis, ““Yesssss, Precious. The time has come once more to venture into the unknown with my dear friends, the extraordinary and incomparable guardians of Middle Earth Peter, Fran and Philippa,” said Serkis

So who said this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm honestly not very intrigued by this news.  The Hobbit trilogy was hot garbage.  If they try to make this shit appeal to kids, it's going to suck donkey balls.  They only way it works is if it's dark and serious and made for adults.

  • Hook 'Em 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, bernorange said:

I'm honestly not very intrigued by this news.  The Hobbit trilogy was hot garbage.  If they try to make this shit appeal to kids, it's going to suck donkey balls.  They only way it works is if it's dark and serious and made for adults.

Agree.  It was long, boring, and silly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just rewatched The Hobbit and it really should have just been two movies, at most.  That said, my expectations were fairly low going in, so I take it for what it is.  It's entertaining for the most part.

I do wonder if a Gollum standalone is a good idea.  

So we don't know what the second film will be about yet?

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm…this maybe what the movie is about:

Years later, Gandalf grew suspicious of a magic ring belonging to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, which he later found to be Sauron's One Ring. Gandalf asked Aragorn to find Gollum, a creature who had previously possessed the Ring. This hunt led Aragorn across Rhovanion, and he finally captured Gollum in the Dead Marshesnorthwest of Mordor. Aragorn brought Gollum to King Thranduil's halls in Mirkwood, where Gandalf questioned him.

Could be really good, but don’t know how they could recast Aragorn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, kevwun said:

It's silly to waste a movie on it when there are so many more interesting stories.

They are limited to the Hobbit and LOTR books and their appendices, and the Gollum stuff is in the appendices.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a Tom Bombadil movie.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/9/2024 at 9:00 AM, kevwun said:

A movie about Gollum seems like a really poor choice.  He's not interesting enough for a standalone movie.

Agree with this. This is weird zag and one that I am totally meh on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I had a few hours to kill this afternoon while waiting on my kids’’ activities and went down some YouTube, Reddit,and blog rabbit holes.  Lot of analysis of what WB said about Jackson and LOTR in the earnings call, as well as WB’s financials (which are shit). The thinking is that WB is going back to the well with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter (the HBOMax series) and a few other things to make a bunch of money in the next 4-5 years, and they are willing to spend money to make money.

From what’s been said, Jackson and Co. have complete creative freedom, and the first movie is more about Aragorn (basically prequel to the LOTR trilogy) and pulling a ton of stuff out of the LOTR appendixes (as mentioned earlier).  Legolas maybe tied in as well as Gandalf (who is central to the reason why Gollum was being hunted by Aragorn). Aragorn is a fan favorite so it makes sense. We might also see some of the fights that happened outside of the Shire between various baddies looking to attack the Shire versus the Rangers/Dúnedain, etc. who were guarding the Shire.

it’s not going to generate a lot of “new” stuff, but instead builds up the backstory of Gandalf, Legolas, and Aragorn (and Gollum and Bilbo) and lays out the journey of the ring up through Bilbo obtaining it, and it’s all out of the LOTR appendixes.

There’s also a lot of talk that WB may have worked out a deal with Amazon and Embracer for Jackson to have access to The Silmarillion going forward, including the silmaril jewels and some of the elf stuff for future movies or series beyond these first two movies.  Embracer and WB especially want to make a lot of money fast.

Here’s a pretty good video just talking about the hunt for Gollum

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

So I had a few hours to kill this afternoon while waiting on my kids’’ activities and went down some YouTube, Reddit,and blog rabbit holes.  Lot of analysis of what WB said about Jackson and LOTR in the earnings call, as well as WB’s financials (which are shit). The thinking is that WB is going back to the well with Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter (the HBOMax series) and a few other things to make a bunch of money in the next 4-5 years, and they are willing to spend money to make money.

From what’s been said, Jackson and Co. have complete creative freedom, and the first movie is more about Aragorn (basically prequel to the LOTR trilogy) and pulling a ton of stuff out of the LOTR appendixes (as mentioned earlier).  Legolas maybe tied in as well as Gandalf (who is central to the reason why Gollum was being hunted by Aragorn). Aragorn is a fan favorite so it makes sense. We might also see some of the fights that happened outside of the Shire between various baddies looking to attack the Shire versus the Rangers/Dúnedain, etc. who were guarding the Shire.

it’s not going to generate a lot of “new” stuff, but instead builds up the backstory of Gandalf, Legolas, and Aragorn (and Gollum and Bilbo) and lays out the journey of the ring up through Bilbo obtaining it, and it’s all out of the LOTR appendixes.

There’s also a lot of talk that WB may have worked out a deal with Amazon and Embracer for Jackson to have access to The Silmarillion going forward, including the silmaril jewels and some of the elf stuff for future movies or series beyond these first two movies.  Embracer and WB especially want to make a lot of money fast.

Here’s a pretty good video just talking about the hunt for Gollum

 

Ian McKellen is 84, so they should get in all the Gandalf stuff they need asap. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a fan made film from 2009 about Gandalf asking Aragorn to hunt down Gollum, and originally WB filed a copyright strike last week against it, but people lost their shit and WB quickly backed down and made peace with the people who made it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H09xnhlCQU&t=768s

This was the same film released in 2019 with improved audio and lighting

 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Ian McKellen is 84, so they should get in all the Gandalf stuff they need asap. 

Yeah I wonder if they’ll do any de-aging on him and Viggo or cast new actors,  Aragorn will be in the movie so much it could be expensive.

And holy shit there’s a shitload of YouTube videos about how the LOTR film version of Aragorn is the ideal version of masculinity.  All these dudes just worship him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, atomheartbevo said:

This is a fan made film from 2009 about Gandalf asking Aragorn to hunt down Gollum, and originally WB filed a copyright strike last week against it, but people lost their shit and WB quickly backed down and made peace with the people who made it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H09xnhlCQU&t=768s

This was the same film released in 2019 with improved audio and lighting

 

Damn. That was actually really good.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

WB doing this because they are desperate for money is not helping my doubts.

44 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:

I didn’t expect to watch the whole thing but it was good.

It still seems like too small of a story with no real major outcome for a film.

Since they will be pulling from the same source material as the fan film above, this first new film could be made for very little, although the fan film maybe leaving out some stuff they couldn’t do for budgetary reasons.  I can’t see them basically remaking that fan film though.

Jackson and Co. have complete creative control though, so I have some faith there is a reason beyond him dipping back into the Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, Buzzrock said:


I didn’t expect to watch the whole thing but it was good.

It still seems like too small of a story with no real major outcome for a film.

After watching it last night, I told myself, "I don't think we need a feature-length presentation on the hunt for Gollum. It's already been done." If they stretch that story out to 2-3 hours like the typical LOTR film, they'll have to get awful "creative" with the content. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What that little fan film shows is that a good story with good dialogue competently delivered really is the key. I didn’t mind the budget production or the no name actors at all. In fact sometimes no name actors can help with the immersion.

  • Hook 'Em 1
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Buzzrock said:

What that little fan film shows is that a good story with good dialogue competently delivered really is the key. I didn’t mind the budget production or the no name actors at all. In fact sometimes no name actors can help with the immersion.

I'm not going to watch it because a) I don't want to be comparing the Jackson version to it the whole time and b) I don't want it to be better than the Jackson version.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, freyguy said:

They should do Children of Hurin, or Beren & Luthien.  

And there's better stories in the Unfinished Tales as well.

Peter Jackson only has the rights to the three LOTR books and The Hobbit.  There’s rumors that a deal was reached with Amazon/Embracer beyond those books, but I have my doubts (admittedly Amazon would probably love to properly tie their TV stuff into the films).  Still, there is a lot of stuff in those four books that wasn’t covered in the movies, and the Gollum fan film proves it.

Theres a helluva lot of buzz about the Amazon trailer dropping in the next 24 hours, which I find very interesting.  If stuff from the LOTR and Hobbit books shows up in the trailer, then a deal was probably reached.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Season 2

Darkness will bind them. The Rings Of Power returns August 29 on Prime Video. Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will.

Building on Season 1’s epic scope and ambition, Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.

 

  • Hook 'Em 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

Season 2

Darkness will bind them. The Rings Of Power returns August 29 on Prime Video. Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will.

Building on Season 1’s epic scope and ambition, Season 2 of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity. Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all… each other.

 

Dope.  The beginning of Barad Dur it seems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bunch of people blowing each other, but the gist of it is that they are still constrained to the LOTR/Hobbit books and their appendices, and they are going to try and not make this the "fourth" film in the LOTR trilogy.

https://deadline.com/2024/05/the-lord-of-the-rings-the-hunt-for-gollum-peter-jackson-andy-serkis-philippa-boyens-explain-23-years-after-cannes-saved-original-trilogy-1235917510/

Since Warner Bros acquired the rights to make more Middle-earth films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s works and the canon established by New Line’s original trilogy, Peter Jackson and his Lord of the Rings cohorts Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens hovered over the proceedings for a long time, as they mulled how to return, and much to involve themselves into another deep dive into Tolkien mythology.

As a business proposition, the allure is easy to understand: the two trilogies – the six LOTR and The Hobbit films — generated nearly $6 billion in worldwide grosses and enough Oscar gold to fill the lair of the dragon Smaug from 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

..

Not only was Serkis eager to reprise his role as the malevolent, tragic creature, but he also sparked to step up to his biggest challenge, as the film’s director. While Gollum’s backstory was dished in small doses during LOTR, Peter Jackson told Deadline that there is much more ground to cover. Especially in the periods when Gollum was off the grid. 

“The Gollum/Sméagol character has always fascinated me because Gollum reflects the worst of human nature, whilst his Sméagol side is, arguably, quite sympathetic,” Jackson told Deadline. “I think he connects with readers and film audiences alike, because there’s a little bit of both of them in all of us. We really want to explore his backstory and delve into those parts of his journey we didn’t have time to cover in the earlier films. It’s too soon to know who will cross his path, but suffice to say we will take our lead from Professor Tolkien.” 

After Jackson undertook the arduous task of directing three LOTR rings in one big shoot, he tapped Guillermo del Toro to take the helm of The Hobbit trilogy. When that didn’t work out, Jackson stepped in and warmed to the challenge of the prequel story of Bilbo Baggins. It would have been a lot to ask him to direct another trio, and to him, the easiest part of the decision to dive back into Tolkien’s Middle-earth was to hand the baton to Serkis.

Serkis has been steadily building toward a career move like this. After he distinguished himself as second unit director for Jackson’s The Hobbit films, Serkis has helmed increasingly ambitious films, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, after starting with the touching love story Breathe. He’s wrapped his first animated film, an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Serkis has also continued to immerse himself in the technical aspects and performances of motion capture that made Gollum so breathtaking in the LOTR films. That included playing Caesar in the Matt Reeves-directed Planet of the Apes trilogy, and serving as Visual Effects Motion Capture EP on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.

..

To Jackson and Philippa Boyens – who wrote the first six films with Fran Walsh – giving Serkis the job was the easiest decision they had to make.

“Andy was a joy to work with directing Second Unit on The Hobbit,” Jackson said. “He has the energy and imagination and, most importantly, an inherent understanding of the world of the story that is needed to step back into Middle-earth. 

“We have collaborated on eight films together and each time it has been a fantastic experience. There’s no one in this earth better equipped to tackle Gollum’s story than Andy.” 

Walsh and Boyens will write the screenplay, along with Phoebe Gittins and Arty Papageorgiou (who scripted the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim about the origins of Helm’s Deep). Jackson, Walsh and Boyens will produce the film, and the executive producers are Ken Kamins, with Serkis and The Imaginarium’s Jonathan Cavendish. Naturally, they will shoot in New Zealand, where Jackson built his production, postproduction and VFX factories with LOTR profits.

..

“There’s nobody else you can think of who knows what goes into that character and we know what he brings to it and brings to the whole world of Middle-earth. Andy is going to have a really interesting take. It’s going to be his own take, because what we don’t want this film to be is just the fourth film in the trilogy. This film has to work in its own way. And that’s our job. That’s what we are going to have to be able to do. I know there’s plenty of people out there who will be like, oh no, why are they doing this? Why are they going back in? Well, that’s our job, to prove why we think that it’s a good idea.”

..

While it’s early going, Serkis sounded optimistic about working in appearances from some of the actors who brought LOTR and The Hobbit trilogies to life.

“That’s a difficult question to answer right at this moment in time, because we’re really in the nascent stages of what it is exactly where we’re doing, and where the story’s going to take us,” he said. “So I don’t want to commit anything right now. I mean, because it’s so raw and so raw and wriggling, and we are just literally having very early state script discussions and ideas of exactly where and how we’re going to drop anchor with the character and his journey and how he is or comes into contact with other characters, and the characters that we know and don’t know. So still, I would hate to say anything that’s going to commit us at this point, because it’s literally all up for grabs.”

Jackson, Serkis and cohorts also understand that Middle-earth has gotten crowded, what with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power completing its first strong season at a reported $450 million investment by Amazon.

“There’s room enough for lots of people to exist within that space,” said Boyens, who didn’t watch the series. “We’ve never wanted to be the gatekeepers of Middle Earth. Sometimes other people put you in that position, but we don’t feel that. Honestly, I haven’t seen any of [the series]. I didn’t want to go watch because I genuinely didn’t want to be influenced. But I think it’s a fantastic era, as a choice. The making of the rings of power is a brilliant piece of storytelling. It’s a great era, full of fascinating characters.

“We have the right to the Lord of the Rings and the appendices, and that’s it,” Boyens said. “I would love to see that expand if there was the opportunity to do so, but there is so much that is in those three books. I know that especially hardcore fans of Professor Tolkien, they always get nervous that there’s only so much story. But look at War of the Rohirrim. It’s a page and a half at first glance in the books. But there are lots of threads throughout the book.

‘War of the Rohirrim sits 200 years before the events of the ring, and it really is a standalone story,” Boyens said. “It was one of the reasons that I came to that story when we were looking to do something that would fit with anime. We wanted to do something that really had nothing to do with rings of power or Sauron or the Dark Tower or wizards, even. It’s a story about a people who are tearing themselves apart. So that felt like a really good fit, not only for anime, but to go into a new art form which anime is, and try and tell a story based in Middle-earth without touching really upon the live action films, if that makes sense. What it did do for us though was re-ignite that passion for the world and for the work of Professor Tolkien. It absolutely has done that, and I think it surprised us. We fell back into the world really easily and it just felt like a natural fit. It also showed us, it certainly showed me, how deep that mythology runs and how much story is left to be told.

“This is something that Professor Tolkien did himself and it is what worked so well,” she said. “He drew upon existing mythologies to create this world.”

Tolkien also gave permission for others to pivot.  

“He wrote a letter to Milton Waldman in 1951 that said, ‘I would draw some of the great tales in fullness and leave…scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama.”

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That fan film was really entertaining. I could easily see a movie or two coming out of filling in the blanks from LOTR and the Hobbit.

I didn't see any Harfoots (Harfeet?) in the trailer. Most didn't like them in the first season since they seemed unnecessary and only a plot device for the Gandalf character. I however, was interested to see what they might do to connect them to the Shire since they are specifically mentioned by Tolkien in the LOTR preface "On Hobbits".

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Jiggy-Z said:

Most didn't like them in the first season since they seemed unnecessary and only a plot device for the Gandalf character.

That's crazy. I thought they were one of the best parts of S1.

I kind of don't want to watch any S2 teasers or trailers and just jump straight in when it comes out...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/16/2024 at 1:27 PM, Jiggy-Z said:

That fan film was really entertaining. I could easily see a movie or two coming out of filling in the blanks from LOTR and the Hobbit.

I didn't see any Harfoots (Harfeet?) in the trailer. Most didn't like them in the first season since they seemed unnecessary and only a plot device for the Gandalf character. I however, was interested to see what they might do to connect them to the Shire since they are specifically mentioned by Tolkien in the LOTR preface "On Hobbits".

I’m pretty sure I saw one in the trailer 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...