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Netflix and HBO reportedly pitched several ideas for Lord Of The Rings TV shows to the Tolkien estate, before Amazon landed the rights with The Rings Of Power.Details have emerged via The Hollywood Reporter, where it’s claimed HBO pitched “essentially remaking” Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The estate, however, was apparently not interested in retreading ground from Middle-Earth’s Third Age.According to the report, Netflix pitched several shows including a Gandalf series and an Aragorn drama.

Jennifer Salke entered the Second Age in London. The head of Amazon Studios spent the 72 hours leading up to the launch of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in a whirlwind, traveling from the series’ global premiere event in London’s Leicester Square to her Manhattan apartment to watch the early returns arrive via reports from Amazon’s formidable consumer research department. The “Rings” team was exhausted, having had no chance to recover from the grueling worldwide promotional campaign for the Amazon Prime Video series that is an enormous bet for the tech giant, being the most expensive television series ever produced. For most of launch day, Sept. 1, Salke and key members of her executive team, many members of the large ensemble cast and executive producers J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay and Lindsey Weber gathered together for hours in virtual “war rooms,” bone tired but energized, to wait for the world’s reaction.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer The cast of the Amazon Prime Video series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” released a pointed statement on Wednesday condemning “the relentless racism, threats, harassment, and abuse some of our castmates of color are being subjected to on a daily basis.” The message comes after months of epithets and smears surrounding the decision by executive producers and showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay to populate J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth — including humans, elves, dwarfs and harfoots (e.g., earlier versions of hobbits) — with actors of color. “Tolkien created a world which, by definition, is multi-cultural,” reads the statement. “A world in which free peoples from, different races and cultures join together, in fellowship, to defeat the forces of evil. ‘Rings of Power’ reflects that. Our world has never been all white, fantasy has never been all white, Middle-earth is not all white.”

Elon Musk has heavily criticised Amazon‘s Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power following the release of its first two episodes.READ MORE: The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power review: epic fantasy franchise returns to rule them allThe Tesla CEO recently took to Twitter to deliver his damming verdict, writing: “Tolkien is turning in his grave.”In a follow-up tweet, he added: “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”Set thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, the J.D.

Elon Musk’s verdict on Amazon’s massive budget drama series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power? “Tolkien is turning in his grave”.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power has become the biggest opening premiere in Amazon Prime Video’s history.Following the release of the first two episodes on Friday (September 2), Amazon shared that the show had earned 25million viewers in the first 24 hours after debuting “in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide”.Speaking about the milestone, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said: “It is somehow fitting that Tolkien’s stories – among the most popular of all time, and what many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre – have led us to this proud moment.“I am so grateful to the Tolkien Estate – and to our showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, executive producer Lindsey Weber, cast and crew – for their tireless collaborative efforts and boundless creative energy.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" has become Amazon Prime Video's most-watched premiere ever. The fantasy television series' debut drew a global audience of more than 25 million viewers, the largest in the streaming platform's 15-year history, according to a report by Deadline on Saturday. "Rings of Power", which is based on J.R.R.Tolkien's classic "The Lord of the Rings" novels, premiered Thursday in 250 countries and territories.

record with 10 million viewers in its premiere last month and boosted its viewership by 2% for its second episode. “The Rings of Power” is led by showrunners and executive producers Payne and Patrick McKay.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the biggest thing Amazon Prime Video has ever done, and it looks like the TV series based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing has delivered big time.

The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power just debuted a day ago, and now there’s another reason to want to see season two right away – Círdan!

SPOILER ALERT: This podcast contains details of the first two episodes of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which debuted Thursday night. For more on the epic series, watch Deadline’s Inside The Ring: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power after-show that launches Saturday. 

A new era of Middle-earth! The Rings of Power explores a totally different side of The Lord of the Rings — and fittingly, the cast is full of new faces.

The Rings Of Power showrunners have confirmed the show’s ending will remain faithful to J.R.R. Tolkien’s source material.Based on the appendices to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Rings Of Power covers Middle-earth’s Second Age, from the rise of Sauron, the forging of the rings and the last alliance between Elves and Men.The show has been mapped out for five seasons by showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay, including an endpoint which won’t deviate from Tolkien’s original works.Asked by NME if they have an ending for the show, McKay said: “Yes, if you’re a fan of the lore or a fan of The Lord Of The Rings, then you know that the rings of power… it’s the rings which were scattered across Middle-earth through Elves, Dwarves and mortal Men as Tolkien called them.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here with your weekly runthrough of the biggest news as prequels launch and Venice gets underway. Do read on.

Caroline Framke Chief TV Critic Several years (and several hundreds of millions of dollars) after Amazon bought the TV rights to “The Lord of the Rings” from the J.R.R. Tolkien estate, the mammoth effort to boost Prime Video’s profile with the same kind of phenomenon HBO found in “Game of Thrones” is upon us — and it’s just as grand, if not as downright surreal, as the occasion calls for. Sure, “Game of Thrones” might have solidified a television format for fantasy epics. But George R.R. Martin’s novels simply wouldn’t exist without Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” and bringing these stories to episodic life requires not just all the considerable money Amazon can provide, but a certain amount of guts from the TV writers taking it on now, some 85 years after “The Hobbit” changed the game. 

“The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power.” Based on the appendices of the original trilogy, the series expands upon the original text to answer some of the crucial queries proposed by Tolkein. Questions like: what cost does war have on the young lives supplied to fight it? At what point is the individual greater than the community? How does one preserve their legacy? These eternal haunting questions search for answers amongst the resplendent beauty of New Zealand’s vast terrain, charming new characters and frightening paths to a country divided and at war. The series begins with a black screen and the words, “Nothing is evil in the beginning. And there was a time when the world was so young there had not yet been a sunrise.

global premiere last night — and thanked the showrunners for ignoring his notes on the series.The Amazon founder traveled to London’s Leicester Square for the premiere of the big-budget TV show in a move to establish its importance to the company.Bezos, 58, honored showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne while introducing the first two episodes of the series.“Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their dream is to get notes on scripts and early cuts from the founder and executive chairman,” the Amazon boss joked. “They loved that.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power descended on London last night (August 30) for the new series’ red carpet world premiere.At London’s historic Leicester Square, nearly 2,000 people – comprising cast, crew, fans and more – attended the Odean Luxe and Cineworld. Among them were all 22 of the series’ cast regulars, including Robert Aramayo (Elrond), Maxim Baldry (Isildur), Morfydd Clark (Galadriel), Sir Lenny Henry (Sadoc Burrows), Ema Horvath (Eärien), Lloyd Owen (Elendil) and Charles Edwards (Celebrimbor).Also in attendance were showrunners J.D.

Jeff Bezos made a surprise appearance at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power global premiere last night, joking about his notes to showrunners and son’s “Don’t f*ck it up” advice as the battle of the tentpole prequels between Amazon Prime Video and HBO’s House of the Dragon hots up.

K.J. Yossman Amazon boss Jeff Bezos (pictured above, left) thanked “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” showrunners Patrick McKay and John D. Payne at the U.K. premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series on Tuesday night – for ignoring his notes on the show. “Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their dream is to get notes on scripts and early cuts from the founder and executive chairman,” Bezos quipped while introducing the first two episodes of the series at the Odeon Luxe cinema in Leicester Square. “They loved that. I need to thank you both for listening whenever it helped but mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.”

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. It’s almost time to travel back to Middle-Earth. Amazon Prime Video’s hotly anticipated new Lord of the Rings series, “The Rings of Power,” arrives on the streamer on Sept. 2. The fantasy series is one of Amazon Studios’ most ambitious projects to date, already breaking records ahead of its release. Not only is it reported to be the most expensive television series ever made (Amazon apparently shelled out close to $715 million for all eight episodes), but the show’s first trailer racked up an unmatched 257 million views when it first debuted at this year’s Super Bowl, more than any Super Bowl trailer in history. Considering the hype, millions can be expected to tune into the new Tolkein adaptation when it finally hits the streamer this week. The first two episodes of “Rings of Power” will arrive on Amazon Prime on Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. PT/ 9 p.m. ET and will continue to release on a weekly basis until its finale on Oct. 14. The show is available to stream exclusively on Prime Video, meaning you’ll have to sign up for an Amazon Prime account in order to access the episodes. While a subscription costs $14.99/month, you can also sign up for a 30-day free trial to watch the entire “Lord of the Rings” show for free.

Variety interviewed 18 out of the 23 series regulars that star on “The Rings of Power” in order to give readers a primer on both the actors themselves, as well as the characters they will be playing on the series from showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer Robert Aramayo had no idea when he first auditioned for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” that the role he was vying for was Elrond, one of the most revered and crucial characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic saga of Middle-earth. Hugo Weaving played Elrond in Peter Jackson’s trilogies of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit,” and as a kid, Aramayo had been captivated by the films. So when “The Rings of Power” co-showrunner J.D. Payne told him that he’d been cast to play Elrond as a (relatively) young man, the now 29-year-old actor couldn’t believe it. “I had one of those moments where everything in your body feels like you’re on electricity,” he tells Variety. “I was shocked and surprised and felt really, really honored that they will consider me for him.”

Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” has been a long time coming. “I read ‘The Hobbit’ when I was about 11 years old, and by the time my son got to about that age, we started reading it together as a bedtime story,” Owen, 56 (“You, Me, and the Apocalypse”) told The Post. “Tolkien’s imagination had such a powerful effect on me when I was younger, and I doubled down on reading it with my son. So, it’s been joyous to re-read everything, and then to read everything I didn’t know was out there, properly – ‘The Silmarillion’ and all of Tolkien’s writings.“It’s been a wonderful journey of discovery and it’s very exciting to be part of it.” “The Rings of Power,” premiering Sept. 1, is set around a thousand years before the events of Peter Jackson’s “Rings” movies.

Antonio Ferme editor The battle for the Iron Throne of streaming is about to begin. Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and HBO’s “House of the Dragon” will be airing simultaneously for six consecutive weeks, which many headlines and social media users have dubbed “the biggest battle in TV history.” When asked about the competition between the two shows, “Rings of Power” executive producer Lindsey Weber dismissed the idea that these stories are in conflict with each other. “For us, we don’t feel any of it. It’s totally manufactured by the media for headlines,” Weber said Tuesday night during a “Rings of Power” panel discussion at Film at Lincoln Center. “I’m quite certain that the cast and crew doesn’t feel any of it either. They know how hard it is to make these things.”

To be frank, it shouldn’t have happened. And while it’s not unprecedented it’s pretty damn close.

Battle-worn fighters, angry seas, stranded ships and dazzling waterfalls. Oh, and an imprisoned man who says “I am not the hero you seek.”

The Lord of the Rings: The is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on September 2 but eager fans will get a chance to watch the first two episodes on the big screen days before. Amazon teamed up with Cinemark to screen the debut episodes on August 31 for one night only.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez walked Prime Video’s red carpet. They enjoyed the premiere screening event of “The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power” at The Culver Studios. In addition to Jeff and Lauren, the event also welcomed the project cast, which arrived at the beautifully constructed Middle-earth-themed red carpet, inspired by some of the character costumes in the show.

There are few series that have been cloaked in as much secrecy as “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” Amazon Prime Video acquired the rights in 2017 for a massive $250 million and in the years since all of Hollywood (and “LOTR” fandom) have been curious about the creative direction for the prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal masterwork.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaVerve has promoted Melissa Darman to partner.Darman, who joined Verve in 2014, started her career at ICM before pivoting to the studio system to work in comedy development at ABC Network. She then moved onto Lionsgate before joining Verve, where she has continued to focus on comedy during her time as an agent on the TV literary team.“Working at Verve continues to be rewarding on a daily basis,” Darman said in a statement.

There are few series that have been cloaked in as much secrecy as “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” Amazon Prime Video acquired the rights in 2017 for a massive $250 million and in the years since all of Hollywood (and “LOTR” fandom) have been curious about the creative direction for the prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal masterwork.

House of the Dragon,” the first of what executives dearly hope are many spinoff series from the most gargantuan hit in the network’s history, “Game of Thrones.” HBO certainly wasn’t the only network turning the mid-July gathering into a launching pad for critical new genre television. Amazon Prime Video unveiled its monumentally expensive fantasy series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” over several meticulously choreographed days at Comic-Con. There was a surprise meet-and-greet between 21 members of the cast and J.R.R.

 prequel series, , is more than ready to thrill fans with a new epic adventure inspired by the works of J.R.R Tolkien.«The Second Age is the great, unfilmed story in Tolkien's entire Legendarium, with the forging of the rings and the Last Alliance,» showrunner Patrick McKay previews in ET's exclusive featurette from the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series. «We felt that was a story that deserved to be told.»«What Tolkien represents, it's really important that we keep that legacy alive,» shares Nazanin Boniadi, who plays Bronwyn, a human healer, in the upcoming series, which chronicles a time period in which darkness descends on Middle-earth.«Galadriel has been on a quest for over a thousand years, scouring Middle-earth, searching for this elusive, undiscovered, very real evil,» details Morfydd Clark, who plays a younger iteration of the Elven warrior portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the series. «Ultimately, she knows this danger exists, this evil has to be stopped.»«From the beginning, we knew that she couldn't do this alone,» showrunner J.D.

, led by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Based on appendices written by J.R.R.

franchise with a prequel series called. Pulling from the appendices of books, the epic saga will explore a time before the fellowship was formed to destroy the “One Ring” and put an end to Sauron’s reigning evil over Middle-earth. Led by showrunners J.D.