Rings Of Power Showrunner Talks Competing With Jackson’s LOTR Trilogy
Rings Of Power Showrunner Talks Competing With Jackson’s LOTR Trilogy
The showrunners of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power address competing with Peter Jackson’s original The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Eyes have been on this project ever since Amazon struck a costly deal with the Tolkien estate to develop a brand new TV series back in 2017. News and information regarding the series had been shrouded in mystery for many years, but by 2019, the official creative team was finally confirmed, with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay acting as showrunners. Amazon then began rolling out casting announcements in early 2020, with filming taking place in New Zealand.
Concerns from the global Tolkien fan base began to grow after a leak that the production team hired an intimacy coordinator for a series of alleged sex scenes, which fans felt did not reflect the vision of the Lord of the Rings universe set by both Tolkien himself and Jackson. When the first official images and teaser trailer were revealed earlier this year, harsh skeptics remained wary. Fears arose that the series was diverging too far from the familiarity set by Jackson’s lynchpin trilogy, which set a new standard for cinematic quality in the fantasy genre.
However, Payne and McKay have been nothing if not self-aware of the massive undertaking throughout the entire process. Speaking to Empire magazine, McKay specifically addresses concerns about how the new series will measure up to the originals by highlighting their love of the films, but also claiming their own stake. See the quote below:
Anyone approaching Lord of the Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about how wonderfully right [Jackson] got so much of it… But we’re admirers from afar, that’s it. The Rings of Power doesn’t try to compete with him.
Comforting or not, the quote speaks directly to the issue at hand, and it clearly comes from a die-hard fan. McKay and Payne have spoken before about the pressure of following The Lord of the Rings, and they have echoed their love for this property at every turn. The story takes place thousands of years prior to the events of the movie trilogy, which has left fans fearful that Amazon Prime Video would imbue itself with limitless creative license. However, it was revealed a few weeks ago that a slew of Tolkien scholars were personally invited to view the first episodes of The Rings of Power season 1. Their overall reactions have been widely positive.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show is arguably the most highly anticipated television project of the year, and it’s nearly impossible not to draw comparisons to the the beloved, Oscar-winning film series, which set the bar to an impossible height. No matter what the showrunners did from the beginning, it was clear that they undertook a seemingly insurmountable task. However, Payne and McKay continue to say all of the right things, which should reassure fans that they are being led by their desire to do the franchise justice.
Source: Empire
The Rings of Power showrunner Patrick McKay says that while the team admires Peter Jackson’s LotR trilogy, the show won’t compete with it.
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