If there's one trend that seems to be ruling the day its nostalgia. Tons of TV and film projects have been produced in the past few years, after realizing that nostalgia was a massively profitable trend in filmmaking. As such, just about every franchise or property seems like it could come back to life, and this includes the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Amazon recently announced its plans to produce a LOTR prequel series for the streaming service, once again transporting us back to Middle Earth. And now film star John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in Peter Jacksons' trilogy, has spoken out against Amazon's upcoming show. And he didn't mince words.
John Rhys-Davies was recently asked by Den Of Geek about his new horror film Aux, where he was asked about the Lord of the Rings TV show. What resulted was a fantastic rant that they weren't even able to fully transcribe. Check it out:
Well, you know they have the money to do it. Why we quite need Lord Of The Rings as a TV series baffles me slightly, but I'm sure that [in all honesty I can't make out the word here and don't think it's wise to make an educated guess] are so utterly un-principled and greedy for money for anything -- I mean the extraordinary money they're getting from online gambling and stuff like this, it's just a disgrace. I mean, poor Tolkien must be spinning in his grave.
How do you really feel, Gimli? John Rhys-Davies is seriously pissed about LOTR heading to the small screen, and hardcore fans of the franchise likely agree. But alas, there's money to be made.
Amazon's plan for a Lord of the Rings TV series certainly seems to be a money grab, especially considering that Game of Thrones is on its way out the door. GoT is one of the most popular shows in television history, and millions of fans tune in for all the violence, sex, and occasional incest. But the upcoming eighth season will be the last, leaving the door open for another medieval show to capture a captive audience's attention. HBO is trying to get ahead of the game with its potential Game of Thrones spinoffs, but Amazon is no doubt trying to swoop in first.
It's certainly surprising that Lord of the Rings is returning in such a major way. Because following Peter Jackson's films, a trio of movies adapting The Hobbit also made its way to theaters. The last of those films was released in 2014, so it's not like the fandom has had the time to miss the franchise. But with Amazon trying to compete with the likes of Hulu and Netflix, it makes sense that they'd move forward with such a big project.
We'll update you on the Lord of the Rings TV show as more details become public. In the meantime, check out our cancellation list to see if your favorite show got the chop this year.
