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Tag: The hobbit

  • Warner Bros Wants ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to be Like ‘Star Wars’

    Warner Bros Wants ‘The Lord of the Rings’ to be Like ‘Star Wars’

    In a surprising twist, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, Rings of Power, is about to get its biggest competition yet in Warner Bros. Discovery, as they purchased the rights to once again create films based around the iconic novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. While their future is uncertain about where they are going with this new take, it does seem they are once again being quite ambitious.

    According to insiders, it seems that Warner Bros. has high hopes to turn Lord of the Rings into their Star Wars. They seem to ambitiously want to explore stories that all take place in the same world that offer different glimpses of this sprawling fantasy world created decades ago. It’s an ambitious thought, though raises more questions on how exactly they hope to achieve it.

    Unlike Star Wars, they don’t have a galaxy worth of storytelling with a franchise that is steeped in a wide variety of genres. Marvel and DC at least have decades of history with a broad range of characters they can bring to the silver screen, yet Lord of the Rings is mostly famous for two distinct stories.

    So, it would be quite challenging for them to not only find a way to create unique stories that could carry a “Cinematic Universe” approach but also somehow keep this very traditional fantasy story fresh. Warner Bros. is definitely ambitious with this project, but it does raise some eyebrows on how exactly they hope to achieve this even if they bring back the original trilogy’s director, Peter Jackson.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Warner Bros. Wants Peter Jackson Back for New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Films

    Warner Bros. Wants Peter Jackson Back for New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Films

    Every new franchise nowadays is more than just an ongoing series of films. We are long away from the days of trilogies or even long-running film series like Harry Potter. The Cinematic Universe is the template everyone aspires to be and that takes a visionary to push it forward. Warner Bros. already found their Kevin Feige in James Gunn and Peter Safran, but they have their eyes on another to revive their latest milestone franchise.

    Just after announcing to the world that they have acquired the rights to make Lord of the Rings films during the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, insiders are hinting that they also already know who they want on board. After Amazon fumbled the bag, the production studio hopes to have Peter Jackson, the director of the original trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy, to bring this franchise back.

    Not just Jackson, but also his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who are “precious talent” for the studio. The biggest challenge ahead though is if this new film franchise can exist opposite the Amazon TV series, as they try to avoid them blurring the lines between these two takes on the same property. That will be quite tricky as they had the film’s original composer Howard Shore work on the main title.

    Amazon already has a 50-hour commitment to the series and is currently busy filming the second season. Showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are still working on the project that was supposedly one of Amazon’s biggest shows ever but was given a rather mixed reception by the Internet and critics. It is still surprising they never went for the film rights, especially with MGM Studio now being a part of their expanding media landscape.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • BREAKING: Saul Zaentz Co. Looking for a Buyer of ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’s Film and Gaming Rights

    BREAKING: Saul Zaentz Co. Looking for a Buyer of ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’s Film and Gaming Rights

    Well, Hollywood is going to turn into a bidding war for the rights of Middle Earth, as Saul Zaentz Co. has decided to sell their Tolkien holdings. As such, it means the movie, merchandising, gaming and live events rights to his properties will go on sale. ACF Investment Bank is currently handling the sale with an estimated $2 billion as its current predicted value. The timing of course comes hot off the heels as Amazon started promoting their upcoming original series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Amazon currently leading the pack on purchasing the rights, which is fitting given their current work.

    It’s quite the sell if any of the major names currently can get their hands on it. Netflix has been hunting franchise after franchise to create their own extended IP library. So, one of the most iconic fantasy franchises will definitely be on their radar yet given the close relationship, Amazon seems like the likeliest buyer.

    If you’re wondering why Warner Bros. isn’t involved, the rights returned to Zaentz Co. last year, as the rights ran out for not producing any projects involving the Tolkien books. It seems that the overall interest in developing more projects had sold the company on selling the rights, especially as Amazon made a deal directly with the Tolkien estate for their series.

    Source: Variety