
Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R. Tolkien, has resigned from the Tolkien Estate ahead of the announced TV deal with Amazon.
For those of you GEICO commercial inhabitants who are living under rocks, Amazon Video paid a cool (estimated) $200 million to $250 million for the television rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, announced the deal himself on Twitter. You don’t see that kind of activity every day. I read some speculation (or perhaps a rumor) that Bezos was directly involved in the negotiations. HBO and Netflix may also have had a shot at the rights before the Tolkien Estate went with Bezos and Amazon.
Who will actually produce the show? No idea yet. I’m sure a lot of production companies would love a shot at it. Fannish reactions are a mixture of despair and hope. Continue reading