LOTR on the Boob Tube? Somewhere, Sauron is smiling.
Lord of the Rings TV show shopped around Hollywood
J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings could be on its way to the small screen. Deadline reports that rights to the seminal trilogy is being shopped around Hollywood, with Netflix, Amazon and HBO in rights-holders' sights. An eye-watering US200m-$250m is reportedly the price of admission. After raiding Smaug's hoard to pay for …
COMMENTS
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 10:27 GMT Mooseman
Re: I suppose they could do a prequel,
The Silmarillion was never written with publication in mind unfortunately. It was Tolkien's own reference material for LoTR etc. Christopher Tolkien edited it intro something approaching a book and published it purely as a money making effort. It has a lot of really good story material buried in it, the siege of Gondolin, Beren and Luthein, etc.
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Wednesday 8th November 2017 10:04 GMT CrazyOldCatMan
Re: I suppose they could do a prequel,
The Silmarillion was never written with publication in mind
Given that the first attempt to publish it was during Tolkiens lifetime I somewho doubt that - especially as he himself sent it to the publisher (who rejected it) just after the Hobbit had become popular..
It's true that it was finally published after he died but he had tried to get it published before he wrote LOTR.
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Wednesday 8th November 2017 09:51 GMT CrazyOldCatMan
Re: I suppose they could do a prequel,
What, like the Silmarillion?
Enough stuff in there for at least a couple of series..
(Even more wierd - I found myself explaining the history of Galadriel and the Silmarils to my wife when we were walking the dog a couple of days ago.. got a few funny looks from passers-by)
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 09:59 GMT S4qFBxkFFg
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
"back when Sauron was mortal"
"Isn't Sauron one of the Maiar? If so he was never mortal."
"You're thinking of his former boss, Morgoth."
Neither are, or were, mortal - both were "Ainur", the next level down from Eru Ilúvatar (the only "real" god in Tolkien's universe). The more powerful ones were called Valar, the lesser were called Maiar.
Sauron did actually "die" physically at least three times though...
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 10:12 GMT MacroRodent
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
> Sauron did actually "die" physically at least three times though...
Also, he did not die in the end of LOTR, either. At one point Gandalf notes that destroying the Ring causes him to diminish so that cannot be foreseen when he will rise again. But he said nothing about Sauron dying off completely (and he should know, being one of the Maiar himself).
In fact, this gives an opening for the new TV series: Sauron starting to build a new dark empire in the present...
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 15:28 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
"But he said nothing about Sauron dying off completely (and he should know, being one of the Maiar himself)."
It's not quite as simple as that because, for the Maiar, dying on Arda doesn't mean the end of their existence, or "dying off completely". Gandalf did actually die on Arda after his battle with the Balrog but was "sent back" (to Arda) by the Ainur and this implies that Sauron too could similarly be killed and no longer exist on Arda. However, if Sauron was killed then Melko/Melkor, also being one of the Ainur, could presumably send him back too.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 19:34 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
Poor old Melkor/Morgoth had his feet hacked off and was exiled into some kind of abyssal alternate dimension at the end of The Silmarillion/the First Age if I recall my reading correctly. So he's not in a position to ressurect Sauron.
I think in the books , Sauron survived the destruction of the ring, but he was reduced to some very minor spirit mornfully haunting some dark nook in the mountains somewhere.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 12:01 GMT Ochib
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
Collectively, the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films have grossed close to $6 billion at the worldwide box office, however the deal with the Tolkien estate was for points on the net and the famous "Hollywood accounting" meant that the film has not made a profit. The Estate had to sue the production company for damages.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 14:48 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
True. As the owners of the source material they must have got a fair chunk of that 3 billion. + hobbit money
You've obviously never encountered Hollywood accounting! They completely outdo the Mob when it comes to laundering and hiding money. And they do it in full view which beats anything read in the Panama and Paradise Papers.
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Wednesday 8th November 2017 10:00 GMT CrazyOldCatMan
Re: "when Sauron was mortal "
Isn't Sauron one of the Maiar
Yes. His boss was one of the Vala (think - minor deities) whereas the Maia were more like angels.
Essentially unkillable - but banishable. Which is what happens to Sauron. Morgoth himself is trapped in Valinor until the end of time.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 10:40 GMT Anonymous Coward
@DougS Wait, the dragons are dead?
I can write a can't-miss treatment where a beautiful platinum blonde princess with a fabulously elaborate hairdo brings baby dragons back to life through an elaborate ceremony that involves a bonfire fueled by chopped-up Ents! I'm thinking serious crossover potential here! KA-CHING!!!!
Tell you what, I will give you an EP (executive producer) credit! Have your people call my people!!
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 11:06 GMT I ain't Spartacus
Re: @DougS Wait, the dragons are dead?
How much sex are you planning to crowbar into your excellent new series?
Are we talking a few longing gazes and chase kisses, or are we getting down to some seriously hot hobbit-on-hobbit action?
There's all sorts of opportunities for a bit of S&M. Tolkein is always talking about the whips of Sauron.
And what does Radagast want all those animals for anyway?
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Wednesday 8th November 2017 17:42 GMT I ain't Spartacus
Re: love-interest for Treebeard
Well the Entwives are long gone. Are there any Entmistresses?
If not, what about Enthookers?
As the Ents have perfected a drink that will make your extremities grow - they can obviously fund their sex and drugs lifestyle by selling penis enlargement pills online. Side effects: When drunk, may cause a stiff neck...
JRR said that Merry and Pippin had got taller, he was perhaps too polite to mention any other effects. OK, I'll get my coat then - the long, dirty mac, obviously.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 07:42 GMT Sanguma
Scouring of the Shire
I imagine the Scouring of the Shire would make quite interesting filming. It could be sold to the film producers as Tolkien's anti-Socialist rant, which it to some degree is - though in the context of its own times it's more an anti-Marxist rant - and equally successfully sold to the masses as Tolkien's anti-1% rant, which it also is. Dobre chut!!!
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 07:58 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Scouring of the Shire
I imagine the Scouring of the Shire would make quite interesting filming.
A notable omission of the otherwise very impressive films. But I doubt that the TV show will do that. It will be a shameless cash-in, formulated to excrete whole "seasons" of glossy, fomulaic boxed set productions that s*** on Tolkien's legacy. Special effects will be good, but if there's an ounce of merit amongst the tonnes of Hollywood ordure I'll be amazed.
Whoever holds and is selling the rights ought to be tied to a large rune stone and thrown into some nice deep water.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 12:09 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Scouring of the Shire
"I have a horrible image on one 40 minute episode devoted entirely to one long-winded speech."
... rather like the way I wondered how they could spin the Hobbit out into 3 films only to realize about 10 minutes into the first film that it was because, depressingly, they'd left all the songs in
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 10:19 GMT Avatar of They
Re: Scouring of the Shire
Not sure on your logic. Tolkien was against technology and the rise of technology, hence Saruman was breeding better warriors and using things like crossbows instead of bows. The shire was a comment on how technology was ruining the way things used to be. If I remember his autobiography correctly, been a few years since I read it.
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Tuesday 7th November 2017 12:09 GMT Benchops
Re: Scouring of the Shire
The Scouring of the Shire was indeed Tolkien's commentary on the industrial revolution. He grew up in countryside in the Black Country at the beginning of the 20th century (quite well into the industrial revolution). Quite a lot of his inspiration for The Shire came from there (according to his biography -- also some years since I read it)!
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