Amazon to Produce Multi-Season Lord of the Rings Prequel Series
Update, June 2019: There is now speculation that the series will go into production in 2020 and air in 2021. In the meantime, Amazon has kicked off its marketing campaign by showcasing a map of Middle-earth on a specially created Twitter account.
Original Announcement, November 2017: A few days ago, there were already rumors that a series set in the Lord of the Rings universe was in the works. Amazon was mentioned as the likely purchaser of the broadcasting rights, although nothing was supposedly confirmed at that time. Now, Amazon’s press release has landed in the inbox, where the retail giant officially announces the adaptation.
This will not be a retelling of the well-known material from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Instead, it will take place before “The Fellowship of the Ring.” Amazon Studios will produce the series in collaboration with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. It’s also been announced in advance that it will be a multi-season series. However, the targeted series premiere remains under wraps.
Even before it kicks off, there’s already talk of a spin-off series. In other words, Amazon and Warner have big plans.
While the retail giant has already achieved some success with its original series productions, the big breakthrough has yet to come. There’s a good chance that this new series will change that.
This could potentially also impact other areas of the retail giant’s business, as Amazon’s streaming service is directly integrated into the rest of the Prime offerings. Therefore, it’s quite possible that the Prime service could be subscribed to by people who previously had no interest in it. In turn, this could open the door to entice these individuals with other Amazon services.
The extensive interconnectedness of the various service areas is undoubtedly one of Amazon’s greatest strengths and at the same time a significant challenge for its competitors. In Germany, major booksellers have, through the Tolino Alliance, finally managed to break Amazon’s unchallenged dominance in the eBook market.
