Amazon is going on an adventure just as streaming services fans have been cancelling in droves in the wake of price hikes after the pandemic.
But the £1billion answer to this problem might just be the Bezos idea Jeff has ever had.
Something like Lord of the Rings maybe?
Now you’re Tolkien!
Fans of the epic fantasy tale written by a First World War soldier are already clamouring for details of what will be a prequel to the book the author started writing in 1937.
The Rings of Power series is set thousands of years before the triple film franchise that catapulted stars Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett and Andy Serkis to fame.
Now a host of British actors including Sir Lenny Henry and Scot Peter Mullan, a Cannes Best Actor winner, star in the new adventure series starting on September 2 with the first eight episodes of a five-season run.
And Lord of the Rings fan Bezos believes his big-budget enterprise, which has been in the making for years and shrouded in secrecy, will boost Amazon’s 200 million viewer base, luring Netflix and Disney fans too. Here’s everything you need to know...
The plot
The original three Lord of the Rings films from 2001-2003 covered the novel J.R.R Tolkien toiled over for 12 years.
His wartime experiences at the Somme fuelled his imagination as his story pitted good against evil against a backdrop of horror.
The story – which began as a sequel to Tolkien’s children’s book The Hobbit – saw humans, elves, dwarfs, hobbits and wizards face dark lord Sauron and his army of Orcs in Middle Earth as he aims to enslave the owners of 19 powerful rings, which would give him the power to rule all Kingdoms.
But The Rings of Power, developed by screenwriters JD Payne and Patrick McKay, is based on a 150-page collection of fictional histories Tolkien created called The Silmarillion. Filmed in New Zealand like the original trilogy, it takes viewers back to the era in which the kingdoms rose to glory before falling to ruin.
The series will follow the forging of the 20 rings of power – three for the elven kings, seven for the dwarf lords, nine for mortal men, and one for the Dark Lord Sauron himself.
Thousands of years are condensed into the sprawling series, packing in as much action as Peter Jackson’s trilogy. McKay says: “It’s the story of the creation of those powers, where they came from, and what they did to each race.”
New faces
The Rings of Power has a cast of 22 main characters, old and new. But recruiting dwarfs, elves and hobbits extras was no mean feat. A New Zealand talent agency wanted “funky looking people with long skinny limbs, acne scars, facial lines, missing bones and large eyes”.
Popular main LOTR characters will be back. There’s a young Galadriel – an Elvish legend – played by Welsh actress Morfydd Clark.
And there’ll be a younger version of the Mighty Elf Elrond. Sir Lenny Henry is leader of the harfoots, the earliest hobbits. Numenor queen regent Miriel is played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson, 37, who starred in The CW network’s Arrow.
British actor Charlie Vickers portrays new Halbrand, a mortal who encounters a young Galadriel
Others include Poppy Proudfellow, played by fellow Brit newcomer Megan Richards, and Elanor (Nori) Brandyfoot, played by Australian actress Markella Kavenagh.
Richards, 23, describes her character as a witty, sarcastic, fun hobbit.
One of the new show’s main heroes is Silvan elf Arondir, a soldier stationed in the Southlands who watches over the humans who live there. He’s played by Puerto Rican actor Ismael Cruz Córdova, 35, best known for playing Mando on Sesame Street. British actress Sophia Nomvete stars as dwarven princess Disa.
Familiar(ish) faces
Galadriel, still centuries from becoming the powerful Elf in Lord of the Rings, is played by Morfydd, 33, of His Dark Materials TV fame.
She jokes: “I always saw myself as more of a hobbit.” Welsh stage actor Owain Arthur plays dwarf king Durin IV, great-grandfather of the original films’ Thorin Oakenshield.
Trystan Gravelle, of Anonymous fame, has been cast as Ar-Pharazon, the head of the last king of Numenor.
Meanwhile, American actor Benjamin Walker, 40, portrays legendary High King Gil-galad – originally played by Mark Ferguson in the film trilogy.
And Hugo Weaving has passed the torch of the Lord of Rivendell to Hull-born Robert Aramayo, who played Young Ned in Game of Thrones.
Similarities and differences
Like the LOTR trilogy, most of the new series was shot in New Zealand – but it almost happened in Scotland.
Location scouting went on around the Isle of Skye, Portpatrick, Scourie, Perthshire and at Loch Lomond.
But in the end New Zealand won out after Amazon held a “crisis meeting” with the New Zealand Government over locations.
There were rumours that Amazon was also worried about the impact of Brexit on Scotland while making parts of the series in 2019. Now the Middle Earth of The Rings of Power will look little like that of the original book which Peter Jackson had to conjure up.
Co-creator Payne has said: “It’s a whole different Middle Earth.” Footage from the show reveals underground dwarf cities.”
But hobbits like Frodo Baggins still feature in earlier harfoots form, led by Lenny Henry’s character Sadoc Burrows. He told Empire magazine: “We’re a nomadic tribe, moving with the weather and the fertility of the crops. We have big caravans on wooden wheels and we’re very good at hiding things. We’re the traditional Tolkien little guy. We provide comedy but also get to be incredibly brave.”
The latest trailer teased the return of Sauron – played by Christopher Lee in the original movies. He’s played by British actor Anson Boon, best known for playing John Lydon in Pistol, an FX mini series about the Sex Pistols.
Meanwhile his more feral Orcs will be fighting for their survival in the show. Executive producer Lindsey Weber says: “We spent a lot of time talking about what it would mean to be an Orc in the Second Age. It felt appropriate their look would be different. They’re not yet organised into armies, they’re a little more scattered and they’ve been scavenging.”
One difference that might not go down too well with Lord of the Rings fans is the lack of a Gandalf – played in the trilogy by Sir Ian McKellen.
The lowdown
The new show has been described as 58-year-old Tolkien superfan Bezos’ “personal obsession”. The author’s son Christopher resigned from the Tolkien Estate in 2017, leaving the billionaire able to take over the rights to produce the series.
And despite winning three Oscars, LOTR director Jackson, 60, was apparently snubbed by Amazon.
Jackson says: “About four or five years ago, they asked if I would be interested in it. So I said, ‘Have you got the scripts yet?’
“They said, ‘We haven’t but as soon as we do, we’ll send you them’. They never did.”
Sources claim producers were keen to create a fresh start with the series and wanted to clearly separate it from the blockbuster films.
That’s not to say the creators weren’t very aware they needed to match Jackson’s efforts, with McKay saying: “Can you imagine going back to such a beloved world and facing the high bar of the Peter Jackson movies? We were very aware of the massive expectations.”
Both McKay and Payne are no strangers to fantasy franchises. They have been writing together for 20 years and are involved in the script for the next Star Trek. Payne says: “We felt like hobbits. Like two very small people in a very big world who had been entrusted with something that meant so much to so many different people.”
Diversity
The Rings of Power is attempting to address some of the criticism previously directed at casting about a lack of diversity, presenting a more balanced version of the Tolkien world.
Both Nomvete and Sir Lenny, 63, have addressed that, with Nomvete’s character Disa the first female depiction of a dwarf and one of several people of colour within the cast.
She says: “We are redressing the balance.” Sir Lenny adds: “Finally kids are going to see people of colour taking up space in the centre of a fantasy series. We’re very visible in this world and that’s very exciting.”
Córdova, 42, is the first person of colour to play an elf in a Tolkien screen adaptation, while British-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi plays healer Bronwyn.
But he has stressed there is no tokenism, saying: “Every person has been cast because they are the best people for those roles, regardless of their ethnicity and race. And I find that super empowering.”
Meanwhile Julia Alexander, the director of strategy at data firm Parrot Analytics, said Amazon was trying to make the next big franchise that can spin off into films, merchandising and games to create a “flywheel effect”.
She said: “So to that extent, The Rings of Power is a very, very important move. It’s Amazon coming into the fold and saying, ‘We can compete with the Marvel and Star Wars, and the Harry Potters’.”
