The series The Rings of Power will free itself from the saga of Peter Jackson, while being “familiar”.
Reboot, revival or replay? As Hollywood recycles cult licenses, this trend is starting to look more and more like a real bag of knots. Series The Lord of the Ringslaunched in 2017, is no exception and many spectators are wondering to what extent it will be linked to the sagas of Peter Jackson.
During an interview for Vanity Fair, the creators provided some answers. Obviously, the plot will completely free itself from the filmmaker’s six films. According to John D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the series should be “familiar but different”.
It must be said that it is several thousand years before the adventures of Frodo and Bilbo. By adopting this positioning, the firm does not take the risk of tainting the course of our favorite characters, even if some will be there. Galadriel and Elrond should play a central role in this new adventure, but it will be a question of telling their origins.
Morfydd Clark and Robert Aramayo will take up the torch by portraying the characters played by Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving in The Fellowship of the Ring. Moreover, it will be necessary to count on a whole new gallery of protagonists.
A story of rights
If the new Amazon series can’t explicitly reference Jackson’s work, it’s because it acquired the rights to adapt JRR Tolkien’s literary saga, not the film franchise. Vanity Fair also explains that some liberties have been taken, such as the appearance of King Elendil’s broken sword which is not identical to that of the films.
New Zealand as a backdrop
However, Amazon has followed in the footsteps of New Line Cinema in New Zealand. To pay homage to the saga, while imbuing its narrative with a certain touch of familiarity, the series adopted the same playing field as for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
We should not make a detour to HobbyTown, or even to the places already explored in The Lord of the Rings. Still, the sumptuous landscapes of New Zealand should leave us with a certain impression of deja vu.
No meeting with Peter Jackson
The two showrunners explain that they contacted Jackson to meet him and discuss this ambitious project. “We reached out to Peter, but between COVID and his schedule, we weren’t able to get together for coffee. We would like to do it at some point”.
If Jackson is not involved in the creative process, the series was able to benefit from the knowledge of other artisans of the saga, starting with John Howe, conceptual designer. “We are really lucky to have a few alumni with us, people who have experience in Middle-earth. We are the beneficiaries of their experience.”
To see if Amazon’s journey into JRR Tolkien’s imagination lives up to our expectations, we’ll have to wait until September 2. It is on this date that it will be possible to discover the first episode of the series.