The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power remains the most expensive TV series ever made, and Amazon Prime Video now finds itself with some unexpected competition in the form of Warner Bros. A few days ago, the studio announced plans to expand the franchise in theaters, suggesting we'll soon see two conflicting visions for Middle-earth on our screens.
Warner Bros. is a minority stakeholder in the franchise but is still free to do what it likes. Desperate to recapture past success, the Discovery-owned studio is banking on yet another familiar IP, and The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com) reveals that, "Though there are no scripts yet, one insider suggests to [us] that Warner Bros. hopes to turn LOTR into a Star Wars-like franchise."
That might mean many things, but as we've previously heard about plans to give key characters their own spin-off movies, it's not hard to figure out where The Lord of the Rings may be heading.
It sounds like Warner Bros. is keen to enlist filmmaker Peter Jackson and his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens to be part of this vision, something that would give them an advantage over Amazon, a studio that froze them out of The Rings of Power.
Warner Bros. had found itself embroiled in a legal battle with the Saul Zaentz Company-owned Middle-earth Enterprises about whether they were doing enough with the property, with plans for an animated movie - The War of the Rohirrim - deemed insufficient. New owners, Embracer, have settled matters as they look to take advantage of the franchise's popularity.
While Amazon plans to remain in the Second-Age, Warner Bros. is looking to figure out how to tell more stories in the Third-Age. One insider views that as "a sign of desperation, they want to make it seem like they are the studio of old. The Hobbit didn’t leave people wanting more."
There are even concerns that Amazon may scrap plans to fulfil its five-season plan for The Rings of Power after the lukewarm reception to the series, leaving the franchise's television future in doubt.
Talking to Variety (also via SFFGazette.com), however, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke seemed unconcerned about whether there's a risk of oversaturating the market with Middle-earth content. "We’ll see," she says, "We love our original series. We’re extremely proud of it, and invested long term. So, we definitely think there’s enough fan love to sustain ours for a long time."
What are your hopes for The Lord of the Rings moving forward?