Lord of the Rings has landed on the small screen in a five-season deal at Amazon, but HBO initially passed on the project.
CEO Richard Plepler explained that the cabler rejected the Lord of the Rings TV show, in part, because it already has a big-budget fantasy series in the shape of Game Of Thrones and the multiple prequel series, per Variety:
Plepler, speaking at Business Insider’s Ignition 2017 media conference Wednesday in New York, noted that HBO has five separate “Game of Thrones” prequels in the works and that the company was not coveting another massive cut on the fantasy genre.
“I’d rather own our IP [intellectual property] 100%… and I’d rather have the ability to work with a product that is inextricably linked to our brand,” the HBO boss said.
Amazon earlier this month officially announced a multi-season production deal for the “Lord of the Rings” television series. Plepler, asked about the nearly $250 million price tag reported for the project, quipped, “If I’m Jeff Bezos, that’s Monopoly money.”
Plepler also noted that Warner Bros., HBO’s sister company at Time Warner, will get a piece of the action from the “Lord of the Rings” series, as it will be co-produced by WB’s New Line Cinema division.
Are you pleased Lord of the Rings didn’t end up at HBO? Looking forward to Amazon’s take on the story? Disappointed a Lord of the Rings TV show is being made at all?
ivey says
HBO does not have enough shows like this. I think they should of got the show. Pretty soon Game of Thrones will be ending. All the good shows seem to end early. They need to go more than 10 years.