When I first sat down to watch The Lord of The Rings back in the day, I didn’t think these films would become one of my many obsessions, even years later. I still get excited to this day when the films are put on Netflix or are placed in cinemas for exclusive viewings. So, when I heard that Middle Earth will be becoming a prominent part of my life again through a Lord of the Rings TV series, I could not contain my excitement.
And we finally have some teasers. It was taken up by Amazon Prime with a $250 million budget. The show is said to, at the minimum, run for five seasons. That’s five seasons worth of emotion we all have to prepare for (I’m 100% not ready). As for the release date, nothing has been revealed yet however one can predict that if production has started now, realistically, it should be aired around 2021, as Amazon Studios Head Jennifer Salke confirmed, stating: “It’ll be in production in two years: 2021 is the hope. But there are other people who wish it was 2020.” Personally, if I have to wait longer but it will be of better quality, I’m down for that.
Despite the plot being kept strictly confidential, producers have teased that the show is to focus on Aragorn pre-Hobbit. Aragorn’s life was not explored in full before his debut at The Prancing Pony; all we really know is that his history is deeply imbued with elves, as seen through him falling in love with Arwen. So, what I’m expecting from this is a series exploring the adventures, the monsters, the love of Aragorn leading right up to him meeting Frodo. Either way, any material that involves characters from this trilogy will satisfy me.
Despite the plot being kept strictly confidential, producers have teased that the show is to focus on Aragorn pre-Hobbit
As for casting, nothing has been confirmed yet but I’m sure fans all over social media have their perfect cast. For me, anyone from Game of Thrones would match the descriptions. What we are aware of though is that Ian McKellen, the infamous and wonderful Gandalf in the original trilogy is open to bringing back his role. Graham Norton, our hero, questioned McKellen on it of which he replied “I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it? Gandalf is over 7000 years old, so I’m not too old.” You heard it Amazon, get on it.
On the other end of the scale, however, Andy Serkis who gave an amazing portrayal of Gollum in the movies revealed that he won’t be participating in the revival as he stated: “It sounds incredible, but I don’t see myself being any part of it.”
Although I am extremely excited about this new opportunity for the trilogy, I am also nervous and extremely reserved. It’s basically inevitable that there will be changes as with the budget and the different form and the many different plots, nothing can be an exact replica of the tone and grandeur of the films. Because of this, I’m keeping my expectations low, but I am definitely looking forward to more news and trailers of this upcoming series.