Amazon’s quest to resurrect The Lord of the Rings will start with a multi-season TV show that’s slowly beginning to come to life.
Set in Middle-earth, the series is said to be similar to Game of Thrones both in terms of scale and scope, and will apparently explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring. Having shelled out close to $250 million for LotR‘s global rights, this has the potential to become a massive franchise for Amazon Studios and all eyes are now on them as fans wait to see which direction they take the property in.
After all, that alleged $250 million price tag doesn’t account for the incredibly large expenses that often come hand-in-hand with a big-budget fantasy series. Once you factor everything else in, it’s reported that the company may end up spending $1 billion to bring Tolkien’s saga to life on the small screen. Yes, $1 billion.
So, it’s clear that this project is going to be a very big deal for Amazon then and we imagine that they’ll be aiming high when it comes to casting. To date, we haven’t heard any names floated around, but could any of the actors from Peter Jackson’s films find their way back to Middle-earth? Perhaps, though one person who certainly won’t be involved is Andy Serkis.
The actor, who played Gollum in the original trilogy, was asked by Screen Crush if he might be coming back to reprise the role, and unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like he will be.
“Oh gosh, I have no idea what that’s about, really,” said Serkis. “I mean, it sounds incredible, but I don’t see myself being any part of it. I don’t think they would – I think it’s a completely fresh, new approach to it all, so I don’t think I’d imagine myself to be anywhere near it really.”
Though fans might be upset to hear that Sekis hasn’t been asked back, it’s important to note that we’ve already seen quite a bit of Gollum and had ample time to explore him and his backstory across Jackson’s various films. As such, there probably wouldn’t be much for the writers to do with him in the show. True, Serkis could always return to the franchise to play someone else, but again, it really doesn’t sound like he’ll be involved.
When it comes to who will be included on the cast list, well, like we said above, that information hasn’t been released yet, but as soon as any further updates on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show arise, we’ll be sure to let you know.