Nerd Alert: Amazon To Produce New 'Lord Of The Rings' Series

Your 12-hour “Lord of the Rings” marathon just got a lot longer.

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN announced Monday it was adapting the tomes of Tolkien into a multi-season Prime original series with the potential for spin-offs.

Amazon Studios will produce new Middle Earth storylines preceding “The Fellowship of the Ring” in collaboration with the Tolkien Estate, HarperCollins and Time Warner Inc TWX’s New Line Cinema, the last of which produced the Peter Jackson trilogy.

“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,” Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins, said in Amazon’s press release. “Sharon [Tal Yguado, head of Scripted Series] 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 Power Of The Rings

If as successful as earlier franchise productions, the series could be a major boon for Amazon’s struggling production unit, which has underperformed Netflix, Inc. NFLX in estimated viewership, Emmy nominations and Cannes appearances. (Amazon does boast more Oscars, though.)

Both the original books and theatrical adaptations of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” have dominated their respective genres.

Tolkien’s literature secured the International Fantasy Award and Prometheus Hall of Fame Award and was named Amazon customers’ favorite book of the last millennium. Jackson’s films, meanwhile, accrued 17 Academy Awards and nearly $6 billion in global earnings.

Here is a snapshot of the productions’ financial and critical success:

• “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” ranks No. 16 in lifetime global box office earnings with nearly $1.12 billion, according to Box Office Mojo. It won 11 Oscars and is IMDB’s eighth top-rated movie.
• “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” ranks No. 30 in box office earnings with $1.021 billion.
• “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” ranks No. 38 in box office earnings with $958.4 million.
• “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” ranks No. 39 in box office earnings with $956 million.
• “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” ranks No. 43 in box office earnings with $926 million. It won two Oscars and ranks No. 15 on IMDB.
• “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” ranks No. 54 in box office earnings with $871.5 million. It won four Oscars and ranks No. 15 on IMDB.

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