Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The show or this thread?

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The show.

My personal experience was that even though I thought House of the Dragon was a better show, I always anticipated new episodes of Rings of Power, more.

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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Legolas will be into Gimli.

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I would have thought Legolas would be the bottom in that pairing.

If it sucks I won't watch it much, although I'll likely give it a chance before bowing out. And it will probably fall somewhere in the mediocre to poor range.

But there's a slim chance it could be good, which would be awesome.

Looks like there may be some Peter Jackson involvement. They've at least been talking to him.

https://deadline.com/2023/02/encouraging-words-from-peter-jackson-co-writers-fran-walsh-and-philippa-boyens-give-reason-to-be-guardedly-excited-about-david-zaslavs-wb-new-line-lord-of-the-rings-reveal-1235269448/

I think you're likely to get "prequel" stuff but I think they'll also tap some of the gaming material like Shadow of Mordor.

bluefire579 said:

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Nanomachines son said:

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C@LAg said:

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https://variety.com/2023/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-new-movies-warner-bros-1235533672/

On a Thursday earnings call, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav announced that newly-installed studio leaders Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy have brokered a deal to make "multiple" films based on the beloved J. R. R. Tolkien books. The projects will be developed through WB label New Line Cinema.

Freemode, a division of Embracer Group, made the adaptive rights deal for books including "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit." The pact will be billed under the name Middle-earth Enterprises.

"Following our recent acquisition of Middle-earth Enterprises, we're thrilled to embark on this new collaborative journey with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, bringing the incomparable world of J.R.R. Tolkien back to the big screen in new and exciting ways," said Lee Guinchard, CEO of Freemode. "We understand how cherished these works are and working together with our partners at New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures, we plan to honor the past, look to the future, and adhere to the strongest level of quality and production values."

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They really can't stand that the original trilogy was all-white, mostly faithful to the source material, and universally loved can they?

They have to subvert this to fit their Amazon canon and insert gays, transexuals, and all manner of diversity into it.

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Tell me you didn't read the text you quoted or the article without telling me you didn't read it.

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I know it's WB, but I have no doubt they will probably *******ize canon to include all of that stuff.

Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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AliasMan02 said:

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I think you're likely to get "prequel" stuff but I think they'll also tap some of the gaming material like Shadow of Mordor.

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I thought Shadow of Mordor was such a good and interesting story. It's crazy to think, but the gaming industry ,in a way, has become better and more creative at storytelling than the movie industry.

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Hadn't thought about them using SoM for content here but that could be cool. To your point, Star Wars Fallen Jedi (game) is better than the sequel trilogy and it's considered canon.

Embracer group owns Tolkien now? Gross. This has no chance.

cbr said:

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Hubert J. Farnsworth said:

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AliasMan02 said:

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I think you're likely to get "prequel" stuff but I think they'll also tap some of the gaming material like Shadow of Mordor.

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I thought Shadow of Mordor was such a good and interesting story. It's crazy to think, but the gaming industry ,in a way, has become better and more creative at storytelling than the movie industry.

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Well I think gaming still has an element of meritocracy to it. Hollywood is basically a closed good ole boy network within the political class and you have areal hard time getting in on talent instead

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The audience both cater to has a lot to do with it, I think.

Basically, this...

In all sincerity it’s very sad that the people with the most money to spend on artistic production increasingly appear to believe that it’s not worth investing any resources in the development of new characters, new stories, new fictional worlds for audiences to fall in love with https://t.co/N4Nwg5Kfds

— Maddie (@maddiewhittle) February 24, 2023

(and I actually like Rings of Power, but dear god we don't need any more of this world)

Yea I liked RoP too. I also have the same opinion on this as you and that person you linked do.

You're misconnecting the dots. TCTTS and the other person are talking about the fleshing out of characters and storylines we already know from the main films and books, not any of the stuff you mentioned.

Something I've always wanted to see on film or in an epic series is the wars in the first age. Morgoth, Ungoliant, armies with balrogs and dragons, the sinking of Beleriand. Battles so destructive that they sunk part of a continent into the ocean. Those things would be so awesome to see on screen. Reading the Silmarillion made the war of the ring seem so small. I don't know how they would ever be able to do it though considering those wars lasted so many years.

The Porkchop Express said:

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TCTTS said:

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Basically, this...

In all sincerity it’s very sad that the people with the most money to spend on artistic production increasingly appear to believe that it’s not worth investing any resources in the development of new characters, new stories, new fictional worlds for audiences to fall in love with https://t.co/N4Nwg5Kfds

— Maddie (@maddiewhittle) February 24, 2023

(and I actually like Rings of Power, but dear god we don't need any more of this world)

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Are you and this person basing this on what's come out on film or based on reading the books and thinking that the rest wouldn't make good movies?

I think there are a few stories that could become 2 hour movies that haven't been realized on film - Beren & Luthien, the Children of Hurin, the Battles of the North during the War of the Ring, Earendil's Odyssey-esque voyage, the Fall of Gondolin, etc.

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It's less about the LOTR franchise itself and more about Warner Bros going back to the same wells over and over again. The new ownership is under a crazy amount of pressure to reduce their massive debt, so they're milking every franchise they own for all their worth. LOTR, Harry Potter, DC, etc. On one hand, maximizing the potential of all your various properties is obviously smart business, but it's also cynical as hell, and instead of anything original we're just to get more LOTR movies after those terrible Hobbit movies, more Harry Potter movies after those terrible Fantastic Beasts movies, and so on and so on. The Hobbit trilogy was a sad imitation of the original trilogy, the Fantastic Beasts movies were a sad imitation of the Harry Potter movies, and now they're attempting to iterate yet again, for a third time each, and these movies will all inevitably pale in comparison to even the second round. Throw in the Amazon of it all with Rings of Power, and it just feels like they're picking at scraps.

I blame the masses, how else do we get Scream 6 and Fast and Furious 10?!?!

I mean, I think you make some decent points, but I also think you can return to existing franchises without it being "cynical", or a cash grab, or repetitive/unoriginal.


Was The Batman suddenly not a good movie because it was a return to a tried and true DC property?

Was Peacemaker just your casual ordinary superhero garbage that gets churned out by Marvel?

Sure the later fantastic beasts movies were craptastic. Why is that not a criticism of the writers/producers? Why does all of that blame fall on WB? There are clearly compelling stories that can be told in that IP beyond the original story about Harry Potter.

Andor won a lot of praise from you - yet it is a part of one of the most overcommercialized franchises that goes "back to the well" and survives off fan service more than anything else out there! Does that take away from the shows quality?

I still think it comes down to the showrunners or producers, not WB.

If it is a passion project for the creators, i believe they tend to focus on the beloved material itself, instead of focusing on infusing it with their own personal agenda.

I would say most of the best adaptations we have are tied to a single visionary, and there's a reason. The leader of the production needs to actually love the material and lead the rest of the production towards an ultimate goal of being as faithful as possible. Audiences tend to respond very positively when this happens and very negatively when it doesn't.

That's a good point and I think something the board has discussed before on threads? So much stuff is made by committee nowadays.

TCTTS said:

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The Porkchop Express said:

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TCTTS said:

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Basically, this...

In all sincerity it’s very sad that the people with the most money to spend on artistic production increasingly appear to believe that it’s not worth investing any resources in the development of new characters, new stories, new fictional worlds for audiences to fall in love with https://t.co/N4Nwg5Kfds

— Maddie (@maddiewhittle) February 24, 2023

(and I actually like Rings of Power, but dear god we don't need any more of this world)

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Are you and this person basing this on what's come out on film or based on reading the books and thinking that the rest wouldn't make good movies?

I think there are a few stories that could become 2 hour movies that haven't been realized on film - Beren & Luthien, the Children of Hurin, the Battles of the North during the War of the Ring, Earendil's Odyssey-esque voyage, the Fall of Gondolin, etc.

---

It's less about the LOTR franchise itself and more about Warner Bros going back to the same wells over and over again. The new ownership is under a crazy amount of pressure to reduce their massive debt, so they're milking every franchise they own for all their worth. LOTR, Harry Potter, DC, etc. On one hand, maximizing the potential of all your various properties is obviously smart business, but it's also cynical as hell, and instead of anything original we're just to get more LOTR movies after those terrible Hobbit movies, more Harry Potter movies after those terrible Fantastic Beasts movies, and so on and so on. The Hobbit trilogy was a sad imitation of the original trilogy, the Fantastic Beasts movies were a sad imitation of the Harry Potter movies, and now they're attempting to iterate yet again, for a third time each, and these movies will all inevitably pale in comparison to even the second round. Throw in the Amazon of it all with Rings of Power, and it just feels like they're picking at scraps.

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Sidebar: I've never seen a video game with as much mainstream advertising as this new Harry Potter game. I've seen banner ads for it during live sporting events, news programs, etc. Crosses the gamut. Kind of goes to the point that these studios just keep going back to the well but then it also sounds like it may prove the point that video games are now a more creative medium than movies for these big properties. Apparently the game is really good for those that care about such things.

Chipotlemonger said:

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That's a good point and I think something the board has discussed before on threads? So much stuff is made by committee nowadays.

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Well if you think about it a video game has way more opportunity to open up worlds and give Stan service. Game can be 40+ hours long with a lot of side quests, etc.

YouBet said:

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TCTTS said:

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The Porkchop Express said:

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TCTTS said:

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Basically, this...

In all sincerity it’s very sad that the people with the most money to spend on artistic production increasingly appear to believe that it’s not worth investing any resources in the development of new characters, new stories, new fictional worlds for audiences to fall in love with https://t.co/N4Nwg5Kfds

— Maddie (@maddiewhittle) February 24, 2023

(and I actually like Rings of Power, but dear god we don't need any more of this world)

---

Are you and this person basing this on what's come out on film or based on reading the books and thinking that the rest wouldn't make good movies?

I think there are a few stories that could become 2 hour movies that haven't been realized on film - Beren & Luthien, the Children of Hurin, the Battles of the North during the War of the Ring, Earendil's Odyssey-esque voyage, the Fall of Gondolin, etc.

---

It's less about the LOTR franchise itself and more about Warner Bros going back to the same wells over and over again. The new ownership is under a crazy amount of pressure to reduce their massive debt, so they're milking every franchise they own for all their worth. LOTR, Harry Potter, DC, etc. On one hand, maximizing the potential of all your various properties is obviously smart business, but it's also cynical as hell, and instead of anything original we're just to get more LOTR movies after those terrible Hobbit movies, more Harry Potter movies after those terrible Fantastic Beasts movies, and so on and so on. The Hobbit trilogy was a sad imitation of the original trilogy, the Fantastic Beasts movies were a sad imitation of the Harry Potter movies, and now they're attempting to iterate yet again, for a third time each, and these movies will all inevitably pale in comparison to even the second round. Throw in the Amazon of it all with Rings of Power, and it just feels like they're picking at scraps.

---

Sidebar: I've never seen a video game with as much mainstream advertising as this new Harry Potter game. I've seen banner ads for it during live sporting events, news programs, etc. Crosses the gamut. Kind of goes to the point that these studios just keep going back to the well but then it also sounds like it may prove the point that video games are now a more creative medium than movies for these big properties. Apparently the game is really good for those that care about such things.

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I think this is more a combination of frequency and recency bias. Plenty of big time games get mainstream advertising, especially ones that are part of transmedia franchises looking to capitaize on an existing fanbases. Hell, a middling FPS I worked on published by a small, now defunct, publisher got TV spots over a decade ago. That game in particular has gotten so much outside attention that I imagine you're just really noticing it because it's more front of mind to you.

I also find it interesting that folks in this thread are speaking about the games industry like it's any different from the movie industry. There are a ton of parallels, not least of which being the focus on established IPs and sequels due to the large upfront investment required. Maybe it's because there's not the same level of outward facing star power, maybe it's that games require a much larger investment than TV or movies in terms of both time and money so folks are more selective, or maybe it's just because it's a much younger industry than movies, but seems to be a lot of rose-colored takes.

The next movie will be Office Space, but with Ents.