The Lord of the Rings

If you thought Amazon was going to make Lord of the Rings TV’s next big thing, wait until you see what else they’re spending on. Reports indicate the streaming service is looking to drop at least $1 billion for a three-season adaptation of Chinese alien invasion novel The Three-Body Problem.

We knew Amazon would pay a pretty penny to develop its own Lord of the Rings TV series, but they might as well raid Smaug’s lair. New estimates put the TV iteration of Middle Earth at $500 million (to start!), and all before Amazon has even assigned talent to the project.

Amazon spent ungodly amounts of money for a Lord of the Rings TV series, and they’ve barely sketched it out. The prequel drama likely wouldn’t connect to Peter Jackson’s films, but Sir Ian McKellen says Amazon has another thing coming if they recast Gandalf.

A Lord of the Rings TV series came into sharper focus with Amazon’s official announcement, but what will it take to bring us back into Tolkien’s world? A new report suggests the multi-season prequel drama could cost practically all the gold in Smaug’s cavern.

You just can’t keep a good dark lord down. After word of a potential Lord of the Rings TV series broke, Amazon has made their commitment official with a multi-season order and potential spinoff. And guess what – it’s a prequel!

Well, we knew Amazon was looking for its own Game of Thrones; we just didn’t think they’d aim this high. A full-scale Lord of the Rings TV series is in development at Warner Bros., with Amazon leading the pack in an understandably competitive bid.

Nicholas Hoult might be adding another iconic author to his filmography. The star of the upcoming J.D. Salinger biopic Rebel in the Rye is reportedly the frontrunner for the title role in Tolkien, which will explore the life of the man whose beloved novels introduced readers all over the world to Gandalf, Hobbits and Gollum — and inspired countless works of fantasy fiction for decades to come.

Performing President Trump’s tweets has become a cottage industry unto itself, particularly on and around the world of television comedy. Voice actor Billy West has recorded audio of his Futurama character Zapp Brannigan, and I thought that was the perfect blend of subject and target. But then I saw this clip from The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, where Andy Serkis, motion-capture artist extraordinaire and star of War for the Planet of the Apes, read Trump tweets aloud as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings. Now we may have a new Trump tweet champion supreme.

With countless entertainment websites and blogs vying for every scrap of movie rumors, I’m often surprised to learn that some casting and production choices can remain a secret for years after a film is released. Take The Lord of the Rings. Back in January, actor Dominic Monaghan caused a bit of a stir when he told The Huffington Post that David Bowie had come in for a quick audition for Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth franchise. The internet immediately kicked into high gear, attempting to suss out which character Bowie might have played, until the rumor finally faded into the background of The Lord of the Rings lore.

Imagine, if you will: a warrior man appears on screen with long, rustic hair and an adequate beard, resplendent but rugged in a coat of shining silver armor. His name is Aragorn, and as he draws back his bow to launch an arrow, the camera comes about so we can see his face. It’s Nicolas Cage. In a Lord of the Rings movie. Record scratch. That sounds almost as insane as the characters Cage often plays, but according to the actor, it almost happened.