Given that it’s an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved and very rich fantasy saga, it’s completely understandable that The Lord of the Rings TV show is moving along at a slow and steady pace.
Set to be a multi-season revival of the legendary property, one which is in development at Amazon Studios – the company reportedly shelled out a ridiculous amount of money in order to acquire the TV rights – things are finally starting to come together behind the scenes.
Indeed, the upcoming small screen adaptation is overflowing with potential. Peter Jackson may not be involved with the project, but Amazon’s assembled a ridiculous roster of talent to help bring the TV show to life and earlier today, they revealed the key creative team, which is made up of producers, writers and more from properties like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.
But what about casting? Well, that part of the process hasn’t really begun just yet, but it’s sure to fire up soon and obviously, the one thing on everyone’s mind is whether or not any of the original actors will return. To date, no one’s confirmed their involvement, but it seems that we shouldn’t count on seeing Orlando Bloom make a trip back to Middle-earth.
Speaking at the TCA summer press tour today, the actor, who played Legolas in Peter Jackson’s films, admitted that he doesn’t know how he’d fit into the project and imagines that there will be a younger star who fills the role.
“I like to think of myself as ageless but I don’t know where I would fit in that world. As Legolas, they’ve probably got a 19 year old kid whose ready to go,” he said.
Understandable, but still a shame. Indeed, at this point, it doesn’t seem as if any of the original gang will be returning, but frankly, that’s alright.
After all, we already know that Amazon is angling their Lord of the Rings TV series as a prequel and don’t want to produce a retread of what we saw in the past. So, perhaps going with a totally clean slate is the right call, even if it’ll be hard to see different actors in some of these roles.
