- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
Amazon has found its Lord of the Rings duo.
Following an extensive search, Amazon Studios has tapped JD Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek 4, Jungle Cruise) to develop its forthcoming big-budget take on The Lord of the Rings. Jennifer Salke, who made the announcement Saturday during her debut as Amazon Studios’ head of TV and film at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, stopped short of saying Payne and McKay would serve as writers or showrunners.
Amazon landed global rights to the Lord of the Rings series for the small screen in November in what sources estimate is a deal worth $250 million with the Tolkien estate. Under the terms of the pact, a Lord of the Rings series must be in production within two years. When casting, set building and visual effects are factored in, the project is expected to cost more than $1 billion.
Related Stories
The megadeal is said to be for five seasons plus a potential spinoff. Amazon previously described the LOTR series as being set in Middle-Earth and exploring new storylines preceding Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. Amazon will produce in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and Warner Bros. Entertainment’s New Line.
Lord of the Rings is the cornerstone of a big genre push for Amazon, which has been a top mandate from CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon’s head of genre programming Sharon Tal Yguado (who helped close the LOTR deal following Roy Price’s ouster) has been on a larger mission to bulk up the retail giant/streamer’s programming of late. As part of the larger push, Amazon signed The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman to an overall deal (and ordered an animated take on his Invincible comics to series), while also reviving The Expanse following Syfy’s cancellation, among other high-end sci-fi plays.
Related Stories
In her first interview since moving from NBC to run Amazon, Salke told The Hollywood Reporter that the LOTR series would be “in production in two years,” and added that she hoped to have it on the air in 2021, despite wishes from other camps that it would make it by 2020.
“All of us would love a big, addictive show that is executed at the top of its game. We’re really excited about Lord of the Rings,” Salke told THR in June. “We’ve been talking to writers. We have an estate that’s very active. I’ve spent three hours with [Tolkien’s grandson] Simon Tolkien. There’s a lot of moving parts with it. We’ll have some game plan to move forward with very soon.”
Related Stories
Still to be determined is LOTR feature film mastermind Peter Jackson’s role in the Amazon series. Salke said Amazon was in talks with Jackson to determine his level of involvement. “He may say he is involved or he’s not involved. We’re still very much in conversation with him about what kind of involvement he would propose,” she said.
Still, landing writers for LOTR was no small task for Amazon. Salke noted that she met with three or four different groups of writers, while Yguado spent time with “many more” than that. “When we announced it, many agents called and with clients and British writers have come calling,” Salke said. “There have been a lot of informational meetings about the material and about the scope of what we can do. My hope would be to put together a group of talented people, which will obviously have a leader who can embark on this big ambitious endeavor.”
Related Stories
Payne and McKay are repped by Verve, Kaplan Perone and Hansen Jacobson.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day