'Lord of the Rings' TV Series in the Works; Amazon in Talks to Be Its Home
The search is on for the home of the "Lord of the Rings" television series being developed by the J. R.R . Tolkien estate and Warner Bros. Entertainment.
According to Deadline, streaming and TV giants Amazon, Netflix and HBO were all approached for the project with a whopping upfront rights payment said to be in the $200- to $250-million range. The cost of the development, talent and production is not even included there yet.
This is just the payment though as the estate and Warner Bros. do not have any concept in place yet. No creatives are even involved as well. The cost is set to skyrocket as budget for a fantasy series as big as "The Lord of the Rings" is estimated to range from $100 to $150 million a season.
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In a report by Variety, Amazon has reportedly emerged as the frontrunner and HBO has apparently passed on the pitch because of the "insane" finances tied to the project.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is apparently personally involved in the negotiations, which the publication says is uncommon even though he is a known science-fiction and fantasy fan.
However, the possibility of having "The Lord of the Rings" in their programming lineup that Bezos wants to feature more epic and grand scale shows, which is why "Z: The Beginning of Everything" and "The Last Tycoon" were axed.
Warner Bros. and the Tolkien's estate team-up also indicates that their relationship has softened a bit since the two were involved in a five-year massive lawsuit that ended just last July.
"The Lord of the Rings" series is expected to give "Game of Thrones," which is deemed the biggest, most popular and not to mention one of the most expensive in HBO, a run for its money.
At the moment, the negotiations with Amazon for "The Lord of the Rings" series are still in very early stages though.
