Lord of the Rings TV Series in Development - How could this POSSIBLY go wrong...

Watch the trailer and pretend you've never read Appendix B, the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or nerds quoting Tolkien at each other on the internet. What is this series about and who is the protagonist?

All I get out of it is "Elves and some people fighting," and the protagonists are a couple of women and a man, maybe some dirty people--from the trailer alone it's hard to tell who they are in relation to each other, what they want, what obstacles they need to overcome, etc. I'm not a movie fanatic but the Fellowship trailer did this masterfully. Dark Lord wants his magic ring back so he can conquer the world, good guy secretly has the magic ring, bad guys are hunting him, good guy is sent to destroy the ring but it corrupts those around him. And it has great generic 90s trailer music and classic After Effects elements.

 
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Standardized Profile said:
Watch the trailer and pretend you've never read Appendix B, the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or nerds quoting Tolkien at each other on the internet. What is this series about and who is the protagonist?
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I think they are going for a GoT style multi-narrator type deal, which will probably make this rather unfocused.
Shamash said:
Its a villainous archetype-scummy, hunched back, cloak, pale ugly skin and uneven teeth. Probably directly copied from Wormtongue in the Jackson movies, or Satan from Passion of the Christ.
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I bet since they have no access to the Silmarillion they have no access to the description of Annatar and such.
Guess I was wrong about them trying to make him a sex symbol.
How this gremlin managed to trick all the smartest heads in Middle-Earth, I am dying to find out.
 
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Shamash said:
The Reddit thread is just more pleading on behalf of the show. I think they(meaning Amazon and its PR toadies) probably realize they have no way of winning over the Tolkien fandom, and so are just going to go out in terms of Jackson film nostalgia alongside wokeside girlboss crap.

They aren't even leaning into "racist Tolkien fans hate this, and they are totally in the minority, black elves and numenorians are great!" hostile marketing strategy. They have invested their billions and they're just gonna let things fall where they may at this point.
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Well, Im very sure we are going to hear the same song and dance of the past few years, "fans bad" and etc. If Amazon doesnt pay them to do it, trust me, these shills will do it for god damn free.

On the other side and, this may be a pessimistic take but, Amazon wont really "lose" even if this is a failure. Amazon is stupidly rich (I mostly blame this on stupid consumers but I also say the company knew how to take advantage of a new growing market online but I digress) and this series is really expensive but...its not enough to put an actual dent in their finances. Unlike Disney who, while they may be hiding with all their might, shit could be way better behind the scenes (the MCU is starting to lose steam and Kenobi being a failure was not a good sign).

I guess what I am saying is that at the "best (for us) case", Amazon quietly cancels this series (probably blaming on Covid or something to save face and add to that "the message" ) and thats that. Amazon may even keep this series going both because they can tank the finantial looses, they want to spread "the message" and/or to spite the fanbase (oh my, how could I ever suggest that our ruling elites could ever be that petty? :blart: )

So our best shot is to just force them to let this moronic idea go but who knows what they might think of next?
 
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Standardized Profile said:
Watch the trailer and pretend you've never read Appendix B, the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or nerds quoting Tolkien at each other on the internet. What is this series about and who is the protagonist?

All I get out of it is "Elves and some people fighting," and the protagonists are a couple of women and a man, maybe some dirty people--from the trailer alone it's hard to tell who they are in relation to each other, what they want, what obstacles they need to overcome, etc. I'm not a movie fanatic but the Fellowship trailer did this masterfully. Dark Lord wants his magic ring back so he can conquer the world, good guy secretly has the magic ring, bad guys are hunting him, good guy is sent to destroy the ring but it corrupts those around him. And it has great generic 90s trailer music and classic After Effects elements.

Click to expand...
The "lore" bones are being thrown at the fans because the fans will eat it up. (I think that gets into a larger issue about how franchises become less about stories and more about worldbuilding-thus nerds can be parted with their money if someone throws enough references at them). But yeah, there isn't any story of note. Is it an adventure? Exploration? The Fall of Numenor? None of these things get central focus yet all are implied.

Also every show now has to ape Game of Thrones with like six main plots in different locations.

But you are correct-who exactly are we supposed to care about or root for? What exactly is supposed to invest the audience in this?
 
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Shamash said:
The "lore" bones are being thrown at the fans because the fans will eat it up. (I think that gets into a larger issue about how franchises become less about stories and more about worldbuilding-thus nerds can be parted with their money if someone throws enough references at them). But yeah, there isn't any story of note. Is it an adventure? Exploration? The Fall of Numenor? None of these things get central focus yet all are implied.
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They should have just made this a story about what the name of the show is. Namely, the creation of the Rings of Power. They could have made the following season about the Fall of Numenor and then the season after that the foundation of Arnor and Gondor and then after that the War of the Last Alliance.
 
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The costumes look cheap and that Sauron looks like he's one of those Pandora blue creatures.

Shamash said:
The sad fact is, Amazon is going to make billions with this show, whether every Tolkien fan doesn't watch or does. Its simply too well respected as an IP. Maybe if it does badly enough that will sour Amazon on doing more abominations of Tolkien's work, but this five season abortion is going to happen whether I or anyone else wants it to or not.
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I doubt it. I mean, it will be watched, but it won't give them that much money. LotR fans are a small crowd and the majority are appalled by this abomination. Only the consoomers will consoom this product and its merch, but they aren't many.

The reason OG LOTR made a bunch of money and became a success and a cultural icon was because it was, at the moment, something nobody has seen. Despite all the flaws, it was groundbreaking. And still, you don't see many kids asking for Frodo or Galadriel toys like they would ask for Thor or Iron Man.
 
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Shamash said:
Its a villainous archetype-scummy, hunched back, cloak, pale ugly skin and uneven teeth. Probably directly copied from Wormtongue in the Jackson movies, or Satan from Passion of the Christ.
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I thought Satan from Passion of the Christ was played by some pale androgynous looking lady?
 
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Sauron looks like an albino football hooligan lmao
If I wind up watching this for the cringe, I'm pirating it just so Amazon doesn't get the idea I want more of it.
Also I know following up Cate Blanchett is no easy task, but through all these trailers Galadriel remains totally miscast.
 
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Tasty Tatty said:
The reason OG LOTR made a bunch of money and became a success and a cultural icon was because it was, at the moment, something nobody has seen. Despite all the flaws, it was groundbreaking. And still, you don't see many kids asking for Frodo or Galadriel toys like they would ask for Thor or Iron Man.
Click to expand...

By the time a kid is old enough to read OG LOTR they're a little old for action figures.
 
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