Colossal TV Show thread

Postby **nocera** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:31 pm

Amazon gets Lord of the Rings rights:

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2017-- (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today announced it has acquired the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings, based on the celebrated fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, with a multi-season commitment. The upcoming Amazon Prime Original will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

“The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” said Sharon Tal Yguado, Head of Scripted Series, Amazon Studios. “We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.”

“We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord of the Rings,” said Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”

Set in Middle Earth, the television adaptation will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. The deal includes a potential additional spin-off series.

A world-renowned literary work, and winner of the International Fantasy Award and Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, The Lord of the Rings novels was named Amazon customers’ favorite book of the millennium in 1999 and Britain’s best-loved novel of all time in BBC’s The Big Read in 2003. Its theatrical adaptations, from New Line Cinema and Director Peter Jackson, earned a combined gross of nearly $6 billion worldwide. With an all-star cast that included Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom, The Lord of the Rings trilogy garnered a combined 17 Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Awesome. Amazon at least has a decent track record for original programming. Still waiting on the next season of Man in the High Castle...

Postby **skullman80** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:39 pm

It will probably suck.

LOTR is a bag of suck to begin with .. so probably haha.

Postby **nocera** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:39 pm

I'm happy that they're doing a prequel series and not re-imagining the movies.

Postby **Silentom** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:40 pm

I'm happy that they're doing a prequel series and not re-imagining the movies.

Agreed. I hope the explore 1st or 2nd age Arda.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:41 pm

I'm happy that they're doing a prequel series and not re-imagining the movies.
Agreed. I hope the explore 1st or 2nd age Arda.

Nerd

Postby **Silentom** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 1:42 pm

I'm happy that they're doing a prequel series and not re-imagining the movies.
Agreed. I hope the explore 1st or 2nd age Arda.
Nerd

This is true.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Nov 13, 2017 2:39 pm

‘Hitman’ Series In Works At Hulu From ‘John Wick’ Creator Derek Kolstad

Fox 21 and Hulu have teamed for a television series based on Hitman, the global best-selling video game from IO Interactive. A pilot script will be written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the John Wick action film series, who wrote the first film and scripted the third one that will be released in 2019.

Kolstad will be an executive producer along with Adrian Askarieh and Chuck Gordon. The project will be overseen at Fox 21 by Bert Salke, Jane Francis, Gloria Fan and Kira Innes, and at Hulu by Jordan Helman. The hope is for Hitman to become a flagship series.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 7:45 am

Fox Orders ‘Cool Kids’ Retirement Community Comedy Pilot From ‘It’s Always Sunny’ Trio & Kevin Abbott

Fox has given an off-cycle pilot order to Cool Kids, a multi-camera comedy from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia masterminds Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney and Glenn Howerton.

Written by Day and Paul Fruchbom, with comedy veteran Kevin Abbott set as showrunner, Cool Kids revolves around three guy friends in a retirement community who are the top dogs until they’re blown out of the water by the newest member of the community, a female rebel who’s ready to challenge their place – it’s high school with 70 somethings.

Cool Kids, from 20th Century Fox TV in association with FX Prods., where Day, McElhenney and Howerton’s RCG banner has a first-look deal, has the same retirement village setting as Norman Lear and Peter Tolan’s Guess Who Died, a single-camera comedy (and longtime passion project of Lear’s), which recently landed at NBC with a big production commitment. At the time Guess Who Died was taken out last month, Cool Kids already had been earmarked for a pilot order at Fox, with its green light contingent on securing Abbott as showrunner.

Postby **nocera** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 8:49 am

That's great and I really do like The Mick but this extra long wait for Sunny is the worst.

Postby **dodint** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 10:38 am

That sounds bad.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 11:01 am

‘Hitman’ Series In Works At Hulu From ‘John Wick’ Creator Derek Kolstad
Fox 21 and Hulu have teamed for a television series based on Hitman, the global best-selling video game from IO Interactive. A pilot script will be written by Derek Kolstad, creator of the John Wick action film series, who wrote the first film and scripted the third one that will be released in 2019.

Kolstad will be an executive producer along with Adrian Askarieh and Chuck Gordon. The project will be overseen at Fox 21 by Bert Salke, Jane Francis, Gloria Fan and Kira Innes, and at Hulu by Jordan Helman. The hope is for Hitman to become a flagship series.

So director/stunt coordinator David Leitch is now directing Deadpool 2, director Chad Stahelski gets TV prequel series "The Continental", and now writer Kolstad gets a Hitman series. Those movies have been pretty damn good to the people behind the scenes.

Postby **robbiestoupe** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 3:46 pm

That sounds bad.

Postby **iamjs** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 4:56 pm

That sounds bad.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 5:35 pm

Amazon paid $250 million for the rights to LOTR. They’re really banking on a shitton of new subscribers.

Postby **eddy** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 8:28 am

Future Man on HULU is ridiculous dumb fun. first 2 episodes were good, 3rd has me worrying.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:32 pm

I'm 2/3 of the way through the two part Rolling Stone documentary on HBO. Despite being produced in part by Rolling Stone, it isn't a lovefest. It's actually a little bit objective, especially about how the old hippies didn't want to cover punk rock music and then rap music. Like how Nirvana got the cover and tons of coverage for one album with a hit song, but Public Enemy had four groundbreaking albums by that point and got shafted.

Jeff Daniels narrates a lot of the articles - some of their famous articles are read over video or pictures of their subjects - which is really cool. But they got Johnny Depp to narrate the Hunter S. Thompson articles - which is worth watching just to hear him read these articles as Hunter S. Thompson.

Lots of behind the scenes video, like of John Lennon and Yoko fighting with a New York Times reporter about how he was wasting his time on the peace movement.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:06 pm

So apparently Christopher Tolkien resigned as Director of Tolkien Estate on August 29th, which is why the Tolkien Estate was involved in the Amazon deal and basically opens up the rights to all Tolkien properties.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11 ... en-estate/

Postby **Spangler** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:20 pm

So apparently Christopher Tolkien resigned as Director of Tolkien Estate on August 29th, which is why the Tolkien Estate was involved in the Amazon deal and basically opens up the rights to all Tolkien properties.

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2017/11 ... en-estate/

That's like waiting for your parents to leave the house so you could raid their liquor cabinet.

Postby **Freddy Rumsen** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:26 pm

Isn't Christopher Tolkien like 90 years old?

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:49 pm

Isn't Christopher Tolkien like 90 years old?

93. Seems like he's been a crotchety **** his entire life as well. I read the French interview he did years ago where he disclosed his hatred for Jackson's movies. Just seems like a jackass. He also disowned his oldest son due to his belief that they should support Jackson's movies instead of ignore their existence.

Postby **Spangler** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:00 pm

I have a LOTR encyclopedia, and there was a forward from the author (a Tolkien historian) who stated that J.R.R. Tolkien wanted his setting to be used for fan fiction. Basically what Star Wars did with their extended universe.

I don't know what Christopher Tolkien's deal is.

Postby **Silentom** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:01 pm

Amazon only has Lord of the Rings rights. They don't have the rights to The Silmarillion.

Postby **NTP66** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:10 pm

Postby **Silentom** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:11 pm

Proudly.

Postby **Dickie Dunn** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 5:30 pm

Amazon only has Lord of the Rings rights. They don't have the rights to The Silmarillion.

They only have LOTR TV rights. The movie rights still belong to Middle-earth Enterprises. Hence it being open season on all things Tolkien.