19 years since Return of the King and 8 years since The Battle of the Five Armies, the theatrical universe that Tolkien’s classic novels started is about to expand and grow again with Amazon Studio’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
And finally, we have a full trailer, announced at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con.
The Rings of Power is one of the most anticipated television productions on anyone’s radar, with the Game of Thrones Prequel House of the Dragon and Disney+’s Secret Invasion to name a few.
Tolkien’s magical universe of elven warriors and armies of middle earth really established itself in the early 2000’s with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings‘s trilogy, followed by his Hobbit trilogy. While the latter series has had mix reviews production wise, all six films have amassed a loyal and enthusiastic fan-following.
When the potential television rights for The Lord of the Rings was up for bid, Amazon Studios eventually won the bid for …wait for it… a whopping $250 million dollars. In addition, the studio has committed over $1 billion dollars for a five-season production run, making this one of the most expensive television productions in modern time. To give you some perspective, Game of Thrones cost around $100 million per season.
I absolutely love The Lord of the Rings, and everything that it accomplished as a creative project, a franchise, and most importantly, a Tolkien brand. While they may not have been true to the source material, they captured the magic we all wanted. The Rings of Power is shaping up to do just that, from the looks of it, but there is always a sense of hesitation.
As source material becomes scarcer and scarcer, being unique while still paying homage to what started it all is paramount in building upon the current fanbase while creating a new one with a fresh, unique story. I love that this will go back and visit the time when the rings of power came to be, the beginnings that would lead to what we see in Tolkien’s classic stories. I think that is an exciting place to establish a story, especially since we’ve only had information about them in flashbacks and snippets. How they manage to keep the essence of the characters and communities we’ve come to love in the original franchises is going to determine a lot, especially for existing fans. However, on the flip side, artists and directors are bringing forth their own unique take on existing material, so I am excited to see the depth of creativity and imagination that will surround this epic production.
I cannot wait for the show and dive into the wonder’s of middle earth. Looking forward to seeing many new faces bring this story to life.
The production arrives September 2 on Amazon Prime Video.
Cover Image: Amazon Studios
