What role did the director of “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogies play in the series “The Rings of Power”, available on Amazon Prime Video from September 2?
In the early 2000s, director Peter Jackson managed to transpose the trilogy The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, yet considered unsuitable. Seventeen Oscars later, and a few billion dollars at the international box office, the New Zealand filmmaker did it again in 2012 with a new trilogy, this time inspired by Bilbo le Hobbit.
In fact, it seemed logical that the latter participate in the development of the Rings of Power series, designed as a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, since it takes place several millennia before the destruction of the One Ring, during the creation of the Rings of Power and the rise of the necromancer Sauron.
While it had been mentioned his possible participation as a creative consultant for the series, Peter Jackson was ultimately not involved in the production of the program. A decision that is not his, as he explained in an interview with the podcast The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter :
They asked me if I wanted to be involved – [ainsi qu’à la scénariste et productrice Fran Walsh]. I replied that I couldn’t answer that question without reading the script. They answered me: ‘As soon as we have the first scripts, we will send them to you’. And the scripts never arrived. That’s the last thing I heard, but it’s okay. I’m not complaining at all.
In an official press release, the management of Prime Video for its part explained that a dark question of rights with the studios Warner Bros. (the platform having only acquired the adaptation rights to certain Tolkien books, and not all of his work) has forced the series to distinguish itself from the films. Because of this, several characters – such as the Elves Galadriel and Elrond – had to change interpreters.
It is therefore without the participation of Peter Jackson that the first season of The Rings of Power was shot. Remember, however, that several talents from the Lord of the Rings trilogy nevertheless worked on the series, such as composer Howard Shore (for the credits music only) and illustrator John Howe.
The first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series will be available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video from September 2.