[+] The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - SPOILERS ALLOWED

[Thunderfoot]

The Balrog's of Morgoth were a special army of creatures in the First Age. They were terrible creatures that went in the down low when Melkor got his tushy voided. Those that escaped, hid. The one in the mines of Moria was woken up when the dwarves kept digging and opened up his hidey hole.

 

[trappedslider]

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ EP reveals which Tolkien books they can use

Basically

“We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit,” He said. “And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books.”

“There’s a version of everything we need for the Second Age in the books we have the rights to,” McKay noted. “As long as we’re painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don’t have the rights to, there’s a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with.”

 

[JEB]

‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ EP reveals which Tolkien books they can use

Basically

“We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit,” He said. “And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books.”

“There’s a version of everything we need for the Second Age in the books we have the rights to,” McKay noted. “As long as we’re painting within those lines and not egregiously contradicting something we don’t have the rights to, there’s a lot of leeway and room to dramatize and tell some of the best stories that [Tolkien] ever came up with.”

Kind of strange to do a series set in the Second Age, but opt not to spring for the rights to the most substantive source material for that era. It's not like Amazon couldn't afford it...

 

[Parmandur]

Kind of strange to do a series set in the Second Age, but opt not to spring for the rights to the most substantive source material for that era. It's not like Amazon couldn't afford it...

The Tolkien Estate is not selling, is the issue. They aren't waiting for an offer, there is no purchase option on the table.

 

[JEB]

The Tolkien Estate is not selling, is the issue. They aren't waiting for an offer, there is no purchase option on the table.

Huh. I did not know that. (More information here, fellow readers in ignorance.)

I have to say, though, that if he thought the LOTR and Hobbit films did a hack job on his father's work, I really doubt he'll enjoy a semi-Silmarillion without anything actually from The Silmarillion...

 

[Parmandur]

Huh. I did not know that. (More information here, fellow readers in ignorance.)

I have to say, though, that if he thought the LOTR and Hobbit films did a hack job on his father's work, I really doubt he'll enjoy a semi-Silmarillion without anything actually from The Silmarillion...

Christopher Tolkien passed away a couple years ago, so he's not the decision maker here. The issue is that the Appendix rights were already sold with the Lord of the Rings.

 

[JEB]

Christopher Tolkien passed away a couple years ago, so he's not the decision maker here. The issue is that the Appendix rights were already sold with the Lord of the Rings.

I looked into this a little more. According to this article (which quotes Vanity Fair):

“We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit. And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-Earth, or any of those other books…We worked in conjunction with world-renowned Tolkien scholars and the Tolkien estate to make sure that the ways we connected the dots were Tolkien-ian and gelled with the experts’ and the estate’s understanding of the material.”

So the Tolkien estate is working with them on the show... but is refusing to open up the rights to the rest of the Tolkien lore? If they were taking Christopher Tolkien's "no thanks" position that'd be consistent, but if they are actively working with Amazon on the show, that makes the denial of access rather odd.

 

[Parmandur]

I looked into this a little more. According to this article (which quotes Vanity Fair):

So the Tolkien estate is working with them on the show... but is refusing to open up the rights to the rest of the Tolkien lore? If they were taking Christopher Tolkien's "no thanks" position that'd be consistent, but if they are actively working with Amazon on the show, that makes the denial of access rather odd.

Yeah, it's a change. Maybe theybare willing to sell now, but even Bezos money isn't white up to it. Or Amazon is waiting to see if the show is a hit before biting the bullet.

 

[JEB]

Or Amazon is waiting to see if the show is a hit before biting the bullet.

Eh, I think Amazon has pretty definitely decided not to bother with The Silmarillion rights at this point, now that they're completing production on the first season. Success means they don't need the rights, and can work with what they have; failure means they're more likely to end things there, rather than spend more money on the additional rights.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Eh, I think Amazon has pretty definitely decided not to bother with The Silmarillion rights at this point, now that they're completing production on the first season. Success means they don't need the rights, and can work with what they have; failure means they're more likely to end things there, rather than spend more money on the additional rights.

They can't "end things there", as from what I remember reading, their deal for the rights requires them to do a certain number of seasons. So Amazon cannot cancel after just one season.