I didn't like Tehanu the first time around because it's a dry read (more so than usual for Le Guin) and narrow focused (in retrospect, in a good way), but Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind are great reads.
Spoilers Lord of the Rings TV series
- Thread starter Cyrus
- Start date
What if they kepth the spirit of the characters and the universe but transported the setting to a more modern time like like "Romeo and Juliet" with DiCapiro and Clarie Danes in the 1990's just to go with one example. Granted if they did this then this might interfere with the idea of Amazon trying to get it's own version of "Game of Thrones" but if they keep the same setting I wonder if it would just feel like a cheap attempt to recreate that show. Me I think a 2017 would be to much but I kind of like the idea of maybe something set in time period closer to a 1900 to 1920 setting, instead.
Jason
Sorry, you're still missing the point. LoTR and the rest of his Middle Earth tales were Tolkien's take on Old English and Icelandic mythic tales, of which he was a noted scholar. They were tales of heroes, monsters, and older non-human races; of epic battles between the forces of good and evil; even tales of the creation of the world. Removing those tales from times so long past they are legends and planting them in the recent past in a modern, mechanized society completely diminishes the scope and texture of the stories in a negative way. Setting the tales explicitly in "the Third Age of Middle Earth" is intrinsic to the tales. The 4th Age was the Age of Man, with most of the Elves departing Middle Earth, and other non-human races continuing their decline.
I just don't get the desire of so many to acquire the rights to an intellectual property, popular due to its story, characters, and setting, and then proceed to change all of those things. Some (minor) changes many be needed to adapt something into a new medium (print to film), but making something almost unrecognizable makes no sense to me.
You can freely explore similar themes to LoTR in other settings, even a modern era. But why try to contort Tolkien's Middle Earth to fit such an attempt? Just create a setting that better fits the time and place of the story you want to tell.
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^ This. Setting LoTR in a more mechanized era or setting is pretty much just creating a live action show/movie of World of Warcraft. Dwarves, elves, humans, orcs, monsters and magic, but with a steampunk level of industrialization and modernity. Yeah, that's totally World of Warcraft.
Reckless speculation is reckless.
I wish they were. (Either 96 hours or enough.)
CJRT might have written a few connecting phrases, but practically every sentence was written by JRRT. The Narn i Chin Hurin is probably the best documented story of Tolkien's posthumous canon, and there is no doubt that he is the author of the published "Children of Hurin."
That wasn't the feeling that I got when reading it. Perhaps half the magic was in the way JRRT edited his stories together. What, and how to include, along with phraseology... It just didn't do it for me.
If sixteen hours of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies weren't enough, have I got news for you! Amazon has placed a multi-season order for a Lord of the Rings television series.
The television adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s seminal fantasy novels will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The new series will take place in the world of Middle-earth, but will explore storylines that took place before the events of Tolkien’s first Lord of the Rings novel, The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal also includes possible spinoffs from the first series.
The television adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s seminal fantasy novels will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The new series will take place in the world of Middle-earth, but will explore storylines that took place before the events of Tolkien’s first Lord of the Rings novel, The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal also includes possible spinoffs from the first series.
Sounds good to me. I'm glad it's not a complete rehash and is instead covering fresh territory.
Never say never.
Deadline says the rights fee paid out to the Tolkien estate was slightly under $200 million. That's a large upfront investment, but I can see why the Tolkien estate would have demanded it, as it means they get their money upfront and don't have to sue the various parties who are hiding money in "Hollywood accounting" to avoid paying out the back end.
Yeah, I don't blame them for going that route after their experiences with New Line.
This is exactly what I was hoping for.
It’s official! Here’s the official press release:
“‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios. “We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be takingThe Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”
“We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for ‘The Lord of the Rings,'” added Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”
“‘The Lord of the Rings’ is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios. “We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be takingThe Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”
“We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for ‘The Lord of the Rings,'” added Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”
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A thought occurs: If they are covering The Silmarillion (or even if they don't), what are the chances of the actors who played some of the older characters will return, such as Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, etc.?
I was officially wrong in my disbelief that this would actually happen.
History and patterns of behavior fueled my disbelief, but said patterns of behavior have apparently changed.
History and patterns of behavior fueled my disbelief, but said patterns of behavior have apparently changed.
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