Spoilers Lord of the Rings TV series

[The Lensman]

The entertainment audience has given up on purchasing new things, haven't they?

Yep, all while crying that “Hollywood has run out of ideas”. It’s not “Hollywood’s” job to introduce “new ideas”. They are, first and foremost, a business. And if non-‘splody, non-blockbuster films don’t make much money (and they don’t) because audiences have chosen ‘splosions and spectacle over them, then guess what? They’ll make what sells.

Aside from that, most of the “Out of ideas” people usually don’t go see the many non-blockbuster films, and really just want more of the same with a different skin. Otherwise all those smaller films would make crazy bank. Wes Anderson has carved out a niche and has a stable, growing audience. But he ain’t making big bucks on his films.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Excellent points all around.

And even Wes Anderson does adaptations.

 

[JD]

Yeah, other than Avatar, there really hasn't been a massively successful completely original franchise in a long time. Every time a studio tries one, it bombs, and then a week later the next big adaptation/sequel comes out is a record breaking hit. So it makes sense that's what the money people would keep going for since that's what's making money, the only way to stop it would be for more people to stop going to see the big franchise movies.

I think it was a few weeks ago someone posted like an upcoming release/project content from Warners and like almost everything was either a sequel, reboot/remake, or adaption of existing material from a book/comic and this was like out of dozens of projects.

I think that is at least partly because of Zaslav, right after he took over he said that he was going to focus on almost nothing but their big franchise movies from now on.

This leads to several questions that I’m not smart enough to answer myself:
- What was the last new IP developed that was truly successful? Harry Potter?

I'm not sure if Harry Potter counts as a new IP since it was based on a massively popular book series. The Fantastic Beasts movies are kind of original since the only source material for that was an in-universe reference book that as far as I know didn't actually have any characters or plot.

Well, I'm going to try looking at the bright side. If these things are going to happen, like it or not, there are some stories I would love to see brought to life. The story of Cirion and Eorl and the founding of Rohan is one that I particularly liked in my recent perusing through the appendix material.

Isn't the animated War of the Rohirrim movie covering the origins of Rohan?

 

[Turtletrekker]

@JD War of the Rohirrim is the tale of Helm Hammerhand, the ninth King of Rohan.

https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Helm_Hammerhand

ETA: Helm Hammerhand was name dropped in The Two Towers at 1:47 of this clip.

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[Nerys Myk]

Yeah, other than Avatar, there really hasn't been a massively successful completely original franchise in a long time.

John Wick? Benoit Blanc (Knives Out)? Or are we just talking SF&F?

 

[Kai "the spy"]

The Conjuring? Despicable Me/Minions?

 

[kirk55555]

The entertainment world really has given up on making new stuff haven't they?

New stuff is overrated. There is nothing inherently better about new IP compared to established IP. All stuff was new once, and some things survived because people liked them and wanted more. I'd rather have franchises I enjoy give me more stuff from their worlds then to waste time on new stuff I probably won't like anyway.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

 

[vandevere]

That would be cute! "Hobbiton Mysteries"...

 

[Nerys Myk]

That would be cute! "Hobbiton Mysteries"...

Probably about food.

 

[vandevere]

Probably about food.

The Shire Version of "Who's killing the Great Chefs of Europe?"

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[PCz911]

John Wick? Benoit Blanc (Knives Out)? Or are we just talking SF&F?

oh, I totally forgot about John wick. I’m surprised it’s had as many sequels considering g it’s just “gun fu”

 

[Orphalesion]

I don't get it. If they really have to make more Lord of the Rings movies then they should acquire the rights to the Silmarillion not do original stories.
Like there is not a single part of Tolkien's legendarium I give less of a fuck about than Rohan and its boring, blond horse people.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

The riders of Rohan are very thinly disguised versions of Anglo-Saxons. However, a serialised fictional account describing the somewhat more historically plausible antics of Anglo-Saxon and Romano-Brittonic characters such as Hengist, Horsa, Rædwald, Vortigern, Severa, Magnus Maximus, Constans, Aurelius Ambrosius, Uther Pendragon and Arthur - along the lines of King Arthur (2004) - would likely be as dull as that movie. Perhaps, putting such characters in a Middle Earth or similar fantasy setting is the only way to make them seem interesting?

 

[Nerys Myk]

The riders of Rohan are very thinly disguised versions of Anglo-Saxons. However, a serialised fictional account describing the somewhat more historically plausible antics of Anglo-Saxon and Romano-Brittonic characters such as Hengist, Horsa, Rædwald, Vortigern, Severa, Magnus Maximus, Constans, Aurelius Ambrosius, Uther Pendragon and Arthur - along the lines of King Arthur (2004) - would likely be as dull as that movie. Perhaps, putting such characters in a Middle Earth or similar fantasy setting is the only way to make them seem interesting?

Which is what Bernard Cornwell did in his Warlord trilogy. Though a bit more gritty than LOTR.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Which is what Bernard Cornwell did in his Warlord trilogy. Though a bit more gritty than LOTR.

I doubt we'll ever see an adaptation of that trilogy though. It would seem too big of a risk to abandon a proven cash cow.

ETA: I see The Winter King is in production so that shows how out of touch I am.

The Winter King (TV series) - Wikipedia

 

[Nerys Myk]

I doubt we'll ever see an adaptation of that trilogy though. It would seem too big of a risk to abandon a proven cash cow.

ETA: I see The Winter King is in production so that shows how out of touch I am.

The Winter King (TV series) - Wikipedia

Good to know. That trilogy is my favorites of Cornwell's works.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Still, isn't the Warlord trilogy very much a tale told from the Romano-Brittonic perspective, albeit by a Sais who switched sides? We've never seen much told from the Saesneg point of view.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Still, isn't the Warlord trilogy very much a tale told from the Romano-Brittonic perspective, albeit by a Sais who switched sides? We've never seen much told from the Saesneg point of view.

Yes, the hero is a Saxon raised by Merlin who becomes a friend and ally of Arthur. So he is someone with a foot in both "worlds." Similarly, the hero of Cornwell's Saxon Stories is a Saxon raised by Danes who becomes an ally of King Alfred.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Of course, the Saxon King Alfred was something like 400 years later and the records are much better for that period (if one-sided). We also know Alfred existed, unlike the Romano-British warlord Arthur - provided that one discounts the phantom time hypothesis, which I do as the discrepancy is explained by the fixing of the date of Easter by the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE.