The head of Amazon Studios says the company was determined to make The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power family-friendly, believing that if children were “old enough” to read the J.R.R. Tolkien books, they should be able to watch the television series, too.
Set thousands of years prior to Tolkien’s novels, The Rings of Power broke Amazon Prime streaming records when it launched Sept. 1. It is based on the books’ “appendices,” the information Tolkien placed in the back of the novels to set the background to his universe.
It is scheduled for five seasons.
“There’s so much darkness in the world. Leaning into light … was really appealing to everybody — bringing something to our global customer base that is hopeful and has light and that a family can watch,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, told Variety. “So many people have grown up with this literature, and we wanted this series to pay it forward for new generations of Tolkien lovers. The line we’ve been using is ‘If you’re old enough to read the books, you’re old enough to watch the show.’”
“We knew from the beginning that this was not our Game of Thrones,” she added, referencing the HBO series that is known for its sex and violence. “In fact, the fans spoke up from the minute the deal was closed, saying, ‘Please don’t try to insert sex and a level of provocative violence,’ things that don’t feel true to the stories that Tolkien wanted to tell.”
The estate of Tolkien, she said, was “very open and encouraging for reinvention” but “always in ways that stay true to Tolkien.”
“We all have the same kind of vision for this property,” she said. “There was never any disconnect there, which is probably why it worked out so well.
Related:
4 Things You Should Know about Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’
Photo courtesy: Ergo Zakki
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
