Amazon to unveil its $1bn bet with 'Lord of the Rings' prequel launch

Amazon to unveil its $1bn bet with 'Lord of the Rings' prequel launch

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has attended premieres for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has attended premieres for "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power". Photo: Niklas HALLE'N / AFP
Source: AFP

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block and enjoy!

Stanley Kubrick once famously said J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy of novels was unfilmable.

It is hard to imagine what the great director would have made of Amazon's $1 billion gamble on "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power," a 50-hour television series based on the dry historical footnotes published at the end of book three.

The show, out Friday globally on Prime Video, aims to tap into the huge and enduring appeal of books still regularly voted the world's best-loved novels of all time, as well as Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning film adaptations.

It is central to Amazon's bid to stand out in the "streaming wars" with Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max -- whose own "Game of Thrones" prequel just launched -- and is bankrolled by multi-billionaire founder Jeff Bezos, a Tolkien mega-fan.

Read also

Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift lead MTV Video Music Awards

But populated by heroes and villains who are barely -- if at all -- referenced in Tolkien's trilogy and its "Appendices" of fictional mythology, and featuring a largely unknown cast and creators, there is no doubting the scale of the gamble.

"It is quite nerve wracking -- we're building something from the ground up that's never been seen before," said Sophia Nomvete, who plays Princess Disa, the first female and first Black dwarf depicted on screen in Tolkien's world.

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see YEN.com.gh News on your News Feed!

"There's definitely a few nerves. We want to get it right," she told AFP at the Comic-Con fan event last month.

"The Rings of Power" is set in Tolkien's "Second Age" -- a period of history in his fictional Middle Earth world thousands of years before the events of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings."

Read also

Mexico lures visitors on new age tourism trail

So while a handful of characters from Jackson's films reappear in Amazon's show -- mostly younger versions of elves such as Galadriel and Elrond, who are of course immortal -- there is no Frodo, Gollum or Aragorn in sight.

British actress Sophia Nomvete plays Princess Disa, the first female dwarf and first Black dwarf depicted on screen in Tolkien's world, in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power"
British actress Sophia Nomvete plays Princess Disa, the first female dwarf and first Black dwarf depicted on screen in Tolkien's world, in "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power". Photo: Niklas HALLE'N / AFP
Source: AFP

Most characters from Tolkien lore are appearing on screen for the first time, and some have even been created entirely from scratch for the show.

"Tolkien hasn't really written much about who he is as a person," said Maxim Baldry, whose character Isildur was briefly seen fighting the evil lord Sauron in a flashback at the start of Jackson's trilogy.

Here, Baldry plays a younger version of the tragic hero, struggling with the death of his mother, over-bearing pressure from his father, and a romantic yearning for adventure.

"What a gift, firstly, to explore someone's beginnings, finding their true colors, understanding who they really are," said Baldry.

He added: "Season one is purely about setting up characters and introducing new characters to the family... fleshing out a pretty skeletal world that Tolkien just created in the Second Age."

Read also

Traditional beauty pageant battles to keep pace in modern Ireland

'Wonderfully crazy'

The fate of the series rests in the hands of creators -- or "showrunners" -- Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, who pitched their concept to Amazon after it bought the rights in 2017, but had only a handful of previous projects credited on their CVs.

The fate of the "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" rests in the hands of creators -- or "showrunners" -- Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne
The fate of the "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" rests in the hands of creators -- or "showrunners" -- Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne. Photo: Niklas HALLE'N / AFP
Source: AFP

"We wanted to find a huge Tolkienian mega epic. And Amazon were wonderfully crazy enough to say 'yes, let's do that," McKay said at Comic-Con.

At the London premiere Tuesday, Bezos admitted that "some people even questioned our choice" to bring in "this relatively unknown team."

"But we saw something special," he said, according to Variety.

Amazon has also put on glitzy premieres for "The Rings of Power" in Los Angeles, New York and Mumbai.

The show's lavish globe-trotting promotion is just a drop in the ocean compared to the astonishing cost of actually making a series dubbed the most expensive ever for television.

Read also

Iconic Algeria record store's fortunes revived by DJ Snake

English actress Megan Richards plays Poppy Proudfellow, a character whose Harfoot race are ancestors of the hobbits
English actress Megan Richards plays Poppy Proudfellow, a character whose Harfoot race are ancestors of the hobbits. Photo: Niklas HALLE'N / AFP
Source: AFP

Amazon splurged $250 million buying the rights from Tolkien's estate, and some $465 million on the first season alone. It has committed from the start to making five full seasons, meaning the final cost is expected to pass $1 billion.

With high stakes has come considerable secrecy.

Plot details and reviews were strictly embargoed until Wednesday, just two days before the series' launch, and even its actors have not been told the fates of their characters.

"No idea! I don't even know what's happening next season," said Megan Richards, who plays Poppy Proudfellow, a character whose Harfoot race are ancestors of the hobbits.

"There's an arc that Tolkien has given us for the Second Age. So there are certain things we know," Daniel Weyman, who plays a mysterious man billed simply as "The Stranger," told AFP.

"The thing that I hold on to is that our showrunners, they definitely know their arc. They know their arc already."

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.