In the race to succeed Game of Thrones as the next big fantasy series, Amazon bought the rights to The Lord of the Rings in 2017, little knowing that they would essentially be walking on a tightrope over a pit of snakes.
It’s not that there isn’t any potential in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The problem arises when you factor in the ardent fanbase that has gate-keeped this story for more than five decades. From chance or strength of creative will unrivaled, Peter Jackson managed to create a viscerally timeless cinematic trilogy that’s still hailed as a masterpiece more than two decades after its debut, but what luck has Amazon to imitate that level of miraculous success?
According to showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, who told this to The Playlist in a new chat, the company knew exactly what kind of risk they were taking when they greenlit The Rings of Power, knowing that if the show failed to deliver, they would have to brace for the ire of millions of passionate fans around the world.
“I’m sure it was scary for them, but I think they really believed in and wanted to see the same story we did. And it felt like a collaboration that wanted to happen. And we just feel enormously fortunate and humbled to have been in the place in our careers where when we looked at the books, this was the story we felt the show should be and that we thought, gosh, if we really stretch, maybe we have the ability to try to unearth it and bring it to the screen with the thousands of other incredibly talented artists we convinced to crazily go join this circus. But we’re absolutely well aware and conscious of the fact that it might from the outside look quite strange and maybe shouldn’t have worked and if audiences think it did, then we’re just enormously grateful, but truly humbled by the opportunity.”
In every interview, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay try their hardest to give Tolkien the respect that is due, asserting over and over again that they’ve tried to capture the spirit of Arda and remain faithful to the source material as much as possible.
Alas, that hasn’t helped sell the new series to folks who remain skeptical of Amazon’s creative endeavors in this field. I guess nothing that they have to say can change that until the show premieres on Sep. 1, when every fan can judge its merits for themselves.