
Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien’s Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels - jakarta
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171113006083/en/Amazon-Adapt-J.R.R.-Tolkien%E2%80%99s-Globally-Renowned-Fantasy
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untog
In case anyone was curious:

> television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s
> The Fellowship of the Ring

So it's not going to tell the main story itself, which is probably wise given
the film adaptations aren't even that old.

Maybe it's just me I'm not super-excited by this news. I wish there were more
original universes being created with the insane amount of TV money swirling
around these days. This just feels like a very safe "me too Game of Thrones"
play.

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macintux
So young Aragorn and young Boromir killing orcs? Gimli killing elves?

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projectramo
I hope its not the same characters.

Its hard to drum up tension for a battle when you know the hero/ine will
survive.

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schtitt
Hm, I disagree. Usually when you read a book/watch a movie, you do have a
pretty good idea who will survive. I mean, even in the original trilogy, most
people knew how things would go down since the books were well known. I would
say more interesting is _how_ it goes down, and you can still have tension
even if you know the final outcome. Same thing with folk tales: you know the
hero is going to win, but it is still enjoyable to hear the tale told.

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projectramo
I guess you have a point.

But let me try another counter: how much more enjoyable were the big scenes in
Game of Thrones? I think you know the ones I am talking about.

I still enjoy rewatching Breaking Bad but the shock and recognition of
watching these shows the first time is superior.

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schtitt
Yup, you're right. It does add something for sure. I guess the further away a
show/movie strays from common tropes the more important is the value of not
knowing what will happen.

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martythemaniak
This _could_ be both quite good and original.

LotR takes place at the end of the Third Age and Tolkien expanded that into
the three novels, but he also wrote (and his son co-wrote, edited and
published) The Silmarillion, which covered everything until the end of the
Third Age.

I always thought The Silmarillion contained enough source material to make a
dozen "LotR"s and keep everything consistent within the same universe. I hope
that do that instead of a "Young Aragorn" type of deal.

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koolba
The Silmarillion is by far my favorite book in that set. The story of Beren
and Luthien alone would make a fantastic series. I hope that's the route they
go as well.

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sgt101
It's good to know that Amazon are right behind creative, contemporary ideas
and not simply cynically retreading ground that has been covered already.

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analog31
Now I get to go back to my friends and say: "Remember when I told you that
they would create a film adaptation of the Sylmarillion and Appendices, in 8
installments, and you all rolled your eyes at me?"

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colemannugent
If there is any author who has fleshed out their world enough to have an
entire TV series focus on minor characters it's Tolkien.

Personally, if they include Tom Bombadil in the show it will be entirely worth
it for me.

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peatmoss
I like to imagine that the Tom Bombadil Chronicles would look a whole lot like
PBS's "The Woodwright's Shop."

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cocacola1
A lot of people seem to be down on it, but I'm pretty excited. He's still the
standard to which any fantasy book is held to, as well as the standard for
worldbuilding. Nothing else really comes close.

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macintux
I have successfully avoided Prime up to now. This might be the tipping point.

OTOH, despite creative quibbles it's hard to imagine surpassing the film
versions, so maybe I can just watch those a few more times.

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thefalcon
Hopefully they're incentivized to pour a huge budget into these given the
"competition" of the movies (and GoT) and they make it worth the Prime
subscription. (Personally Prime has so much value add these days for me I
can't imagine not being subscribed anyway.)

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macintux
When practical, I prefer to buy from specialized retailers (or manufacturers)
for stuff I care about, so Amazon is a last resort for me.

The convenience, though, means I buy a lot of stuff I don't care about (or
otherwise can't readily find) from them.

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legohead
There are so many amazing fantasy novels that need movies or TV shows. Tolkien
was good, and for his time, amazing. But compared to what we have available
today, I wouldn't even put him in the top 10.

sigh

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acdanger
Care to offer any recommendations? I'm in the market for new sci-fi / fantasy
lit.

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meritt

        Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan)
        Stormlight Archive; Mistborn (Brandon Sanderson)
        Belgariad and Malloreon (David Eddings)
        Discworld (Terry Pratchett)
        Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks)

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notacoward
I really hope when they say "preceding The Fellowship of the Ring" they still
mean Third Age. The Silmarillion stuff is just too big and too unfamiliar IMO.
There's plenty to cover with Dol Guldur, Gollum's capture and escape, Moria,
Gandalf and Saruman, Wormtongue, Denethor, Aragorn as a younger man, etc.
Going further back but still Third Age you have the breakup of Arnor and the
rise of Angmar, the founding of the Shire and Rohan, dwarves and dragons, and
so on. There's just no need to go all the way back to the beginning, and it
would seem too much like a whole different world that I think it would be a
mistake.

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BerislavLopac
Personally I would prefer them to go even further into the early Third Age.
The Fall of Arnor, the Kin-Strife -- there is a lot of epic events, with a
much darker tone.

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notacoward
They might have to. I saw your other post, about who owns the rights, and I've
also seen some of that as a LotROnline player. There might be other issues
because of the movies, if MEE/SZC gave the studios exclusive (or time-
exclusive) rights to the characters and settings. That still leaves a lot,
though. Angmar and Dol Guldur are only alluded to in the books, not visited,
which makes them Tolkien Estate territory. Gondor's a bit trickier. The kin-
strife involved _characters_ not in LotR, but the settings might be
contentious. A lot depends on the specific details or the contracts among the
various parties, which we don't know.

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acheron
So hold on, this is literally working with the Tolkien Estate? Is the Estate
licensing further works? I assumed before now that the articles referencing
the "Tolkien Estate" mostly didn't know what they were talking about, and that
the deal was being worked out with the usual suspects (i.e. Saul Zaentz
Company) with the Estate keeping up their same position. This makes it more
interesting, I guess.

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jpm_sd
I wish someone would do a proper job on the Earthsea novels. Netflix, are you
listening?

LOTR is a bit played out, the Hobbitrilogy kinda beat it to death.

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pvg
Dupe of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15643856](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15643856)

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thefalcon
No it isn't. The deal was announced today, the linked article is from six days
ago. Speculation and rumors are not the same thing as a done deal.

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pvg
Sure and you could have another thread when the schedule is announced but that
doesn't make for interesting conversation or an interesting front page.
There's nothing in this thread that wasn't in last week's thread and chances
are there won't be.

