jpcamb

that looks like Data from STNG LOL

Josh-da-man

Watched it the other day.

That's actually kind of awesome.

It's like an acid-fueled, extended prog-rock fever dream of a 1970s Lord of the Rings movie.

fujishig

So it seems like that 1 billion dollar budget thing is confirmed, at least by what they've submitted to the NZ government as to what they plan to spend:


https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political...-rings-filming

lopper

Sorry if this is common knowledge, but does this take place in the same universe as the LOTR films?

DJariya

The Hollywood Reporter just said that season 1 will cost $465M to produce.

Deftones

Yes but thousands of years prior, IIRC

Josh-da-man

As far as I know, yes, or at least more or less.

It will take place during the Second Age, most likely covering things like Sauron forging the Rings and the Fall of Numenor, which would put it at about 3000 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

There won't be a lot of direct crossover between the six films and the Amazon series; at most, I think it would include immortal characters like Elrond and Galadriel. Arwen wasn't born until early in the Third Age, and the Istari (Wizards) didn't arrive in Middle Earth for another thousand years.

They could still massage the timeline, and bring the Istari into Middle Earth earlier; according to some of Tolkien's writings the two Blue Wizards might have arrived in Middle Earth in middle of the Second Age, well before Gandalf, Saruman, and Radagast.

milo bloom

You mention the blue wizards which makes me wonder: since Tolkien never named them, can Amazon get away with giving them names? They gotta have something for the merchandising you know.

caligulathegod

Their names in Valinor were Alatar and Pallando. Alatar was a Maia of the Vala Oromë who chose him to go to Middle-earth. Alatar asked his friend Pallando to join him on his mission. ...However, in a text found in The Peoples of Middle-earth, alternate set of names are given, Morinehtar and Rómestámo (or Rome(n)star), "Darkness-slayer" and "East-helper". It is not clear whether these names were intended to be replacements for Alatar and Pallando, or whether they had a second set of names (for instance, their names used in Middle-earth).

As far as I know, they did not negotiate the rights to this additional material, so they can't use it.

Josh-da-man

The Blue Wizards were named "Alatar" and "Pallando" (their Valar names, much like Gandalf's Valinor name was Olorin and Saruman's was Curumo). I don't think they were ever given any other names by Tolkien.

Tolkien himself didn't seem to develop them much beyond establishing that they existed. He believed that they likely went into the East and South, and might have failed in their missions.

Jeremy517

Decker

I swear, I will never understand the financials of this. I was VERY happy to pay Amazon $100/yr for free 2 day shipping. I don't need Amazon also providing me a TV series that cost more than an Aircraft carrier for my streaming pleasure. That's why I have Netflix.

leacha

2 day shipping 🤣 if the wind picks up here I get the unexpected weather delays in your area could affect shipping.

Runaway

Amazon wants people to shop and if you're on their service browsing shows, you're like browsing for something to buy while your there. It's just a very big marketing tool.

RichC2

Hah, Season 2 is never happening.

Why So Blu?

The first season is only 8 episodes. They did order a second season and the original commitment was for 5 seasons in total. Also, I'd assume that the 465 million number they're getting also includes the 250 million Amazon paid for the rights to the series and not just for the budget.

milo bloom

Yeah surely some of that upfront money is set construction which will be used for the remaining seasons.

GoldenJCJ

It’s the opposite at my house. They built a new Amazon warehouse about 25 minutes south of me and now a lot of stuff I order with 2 day shipping ends up at my door the next day.

RichC2

Same, we went from zero warehouses to about 8 locally. Stuff shows up at random times but it's usually early.

leacha

I have a warehouse and a distribution center within walking distance. I must order stuff they don't store here. 😕

DJariya

https://deadline.com/2021/08/the-lor...to-1234807566/

dex14

story

I read that filming wrapped today and it was premiering this September and I laughed! Glad to see I read that wrong.

milo bloom

I guess I wasn't realizing filming is just now done, it feels like they've been talking about this forever. But if it's film scale storytelling, then a year to get the episodes put together is certainly believable.

Between this and the War of the Rohirrim, we're getting an embarrassment of Tolkien riches.

Eric F

Damnit! I guess I will wait until they all drop before I watch it.