By Aiming to be the next big fantasy series, in a Game of Thronesless world, Amazon’s adaptation of Tolkien’s high fantasy epic has found some talent to sustain its ambitious scope.
JA Bayona, whose most recent film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was a box office smash, will be executive producing with his producing partner Belén Atienza. Bayona will direct the first two episodes of the series for Amazon.
Details on the series remain murky, though we do know that it focuses, at least in part, on a time before Peter Jackson’s landmark trilogy of films. The series is also expected to go down as one of the most-expensive in television history, with a budget around $1 billion across a potential five seasons.
To put that in perspective: The final six episodes of Game of Thrones cost approximately $15 million for each episode, the highest cost for the series. With episodes before ranging from $6-10 million, those 73 episodes in Westeros certainly add up. Still, Amazon might go for the title.
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings is expected to premiere sometime in 2021.
‘Lord of the Rings’ Series at Amazon Enlists J.A. Bayona to Direct [Variety]