Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV series

Enlarge / These two wander around for a long time. (credit: New Line Cinema)

Amazon has acquired the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings, and the Internet giant has already committed to a multi-season TV series rooted in author J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth setting.

Both Amazon's own press release title ("Amazon to Adapt J.R.R. Tolkien's Globally Renowned Fantasy Novels... ") and earlier rumors suggested that the series would be a direct adaptation of the books, but that is now confirmed not to be the case. Rather, the series will introduce new stories that are set before The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book in the trilogy.

Tolkien estate and HarperCollins representative Matt Galsor said the series will "bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien's original writings." To Tolkien fans, it's unclear what that means exactly. Will characters and situations be based on unpublished Tolkien works? Many of those exist, but the author's son Christopher Tolkien has been editing and completing key works in those categories as published books for several years now. It's unclear what remains.

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