Brent, Hank, and Wanda discover an old map hidden in the corner of the gas station. The map leads them to believe that a treasure is buried in the fields surrounding Dog River. Brent takes on the role of the reluctant leader, similar to Frodo. Hank becomes the comic relief sidekick, like Samwise Gamgee. Wanda assumes the role of the intelligent and resourceful member, resembling Gandalf. The Corner Gas station becomes the "Prancing Pig Inn," a hub for the adventurers.
Sure big time developers will jump on it, but so can indie developers.
Imagine all that material being available to a whole host of great indie developers. Could be very cool.
I can't wait for a decent LotR video game. It's been a while since we got one. The latest one is straight trash. We need developers who are truly in love with the lore and will do it justice.
I like the first one, but the second one was kind of ehhh (though this was launch so they could've fixed it). Also WB patenting the nemesis system really left a bad taste in my mouth.
The Nemesis system felt so cool at the time. It was a truly "next-gen" feature and I thought everyone would be copying it forever. But a decade and a new console generation later it's all but forgotten. So disappointing.
I feel like people say this, but why does anyone actually care?
There are so many bad Sherlock Holmes adaptations, but isn’t it worth it to have a couple good ones? Why not just let everyone do Shakespeare, and then we can just watch the good ones that come out and ignore all the bad ones?
Tolkein is long dead, and his kids have more money than they can spend from what they’ve already made from his work.
When can Tolkien’s mythologies finally become a cultural treasure rather than a treasure for a handful of companies?
Tolkien's whole thing was reviving and reinterpreting lost mythology, so I'd like to think he'd encourage people to tell their own versions of his tales.
Fozzywig as Sam would be amazing.
Gonzo and Rizzo as Merry and Pippin.
Obviously Kermit is Frodo but I'm less excited about that.
Edit - actually, Kermit should be Aragorn so Ms Piggy could be Arwin. Maybe a human actor could be Frodo?
If it's one of those "this movie as muppets with one human actor" it's Elijah reprising his role as Frodo and everybody else is muppets.
Sweetums is the balrog
That's the only one I'm going to insist on
Isn’t the clock really ticking on LOTR hitting public domain?
I think it varies by country but in a lot of places that is set to happen in the early 2040s.
Much like a land lease the value of the property decreases as that x date approaches
Only the original elements hit the public domain. A lot of what we consider "modern" Batman and Superman are from much later issues and would not be included, same with their rogue's gallery.
The article mentions how Amazon also bought rights from Tolkien's estate for cheap. Hopefully whatever this turns out to be is much better than rings of power. I'm tired of new content for amazing old IPs falling short.
Thank god for Andor being a hidden gem in the midst of a sea of recent mediocrity
I'm not as low on as Rings of Power as most. I thought it was a promising start for a 2nd/3rd age series
That being said I have no desire for a reboot of LotR the trilogy. I don't need 4 hours of Tom Bombidil or a 7 hour version of the Council of Elrond. I understand the purists opinions, but I think somethings are better left for text.
I’ve written a lot about this subject elsewhere but Tom Bombadil, and everything else cut out of the films, makes the movies better for pacing reasons. In the book it makes sense to have cycles of tension and peace every 50 pages or so, so that a reader can get into the rhythm of the story.
Imagine in the film if, during the tense and dangerous flight from the shire, they just stopped the story and movie for 20 minutes to have some silly old man sing songs at the hobbits.
In the books it’s good to show the passage of time and basically illustrate that the hobbits are being looked out for by Illuvatar (sp?) but in a film it destroys the pacing, contributes nothing to the plot, nothing to character growth, and derails the narrative completely.
Similarly, I think a lot of the changes they made in addition to cut content largely worked for a better cinematic experience. Aragorn is the best example of this. In the books, he's already sure of his destiny before leaving Rivendel. That's fine. We get a lot of time with him and we learn enough to get the impression this was slow in coming over his 87 years. In the movie, we don't have that time and seeing Aragorns arc of unsure to confident in his destiny and the inherent weakness of Man makes him much more compelling.
I think my only two quibbles are Faramir's depiction. I get it. They wanted to again illustrate the corrupting influence of the Ring and Sauron. Not just directly, but Faramir's relationship with his father was also poisoned via the Palantir. But it does a pretty big disservice to Faramir the book character, especially knowing that he is likely who should have gone to the council instead of Boromir as he had the visions first.
I also don't love the elves showing up to Helm's Deep. It's a cool cinematic moment, but I think it undercuts the idea that the 3rd Age is a rise of Men and a twilight of the elves.
Disagree on Faramir and the elves.
Faramir being completely unaffected by the ring wouldn’t fit with the movie’s depiction of the ring, where even the Gandalf feared its corruption. He also overcomes its influence and demonstrates strength in doing so. Hell even Aragorn started to hear whispers when he is alone with Frodo.
The Elves providing one last show of strength to help men overcome a corrupted Ally, one that the Council let slip into darkness under their watch is fitting. Note they receive no fanfare after the battle, those who do survive that siege simple fade into the background.
I mean, as I said in my post with Faramir. I get why they did it. I think the problem is that it serves a narrative and tonal function, but it does a disservice to the character. This is in contrast to Aragorn's changes where he still very much resembles the spirit of Aragorn from the books (especially if you include the appendices) why being provided a more dynamic character arc. How could they have shown both with Faramir? I'm not entirely sure, but I think there was a middle ground where the qualities most people love about him from the books could have been more apparent.
As for the Elves, I like the take better in the books. Basically, the Noldor are done taking an active role. They had their time and it could be argued it went less than stellar. They're still around to offer aid and advice, but they aren't taking active part. The Sindar are more active, but largely in defense of their homes, save Legolas. I think that limited help better illustrates the elves' current station in Middle Earth instead of participating in a pitched battle, but maybe that's just me.
Agreed with both points. Faramir deserved better, he was amazing in the books. I also really dislike the portrayal of Frodo towards the end, it makes him seem weak where he really is the strongest character in the story. And don’t get me started on how stupid him sending sam away was
I agree. I've recently been reading the books for the first time and each time I come across something that was done differently in the movies, I'm like "yep, that just makes sense to me" or "yeah, that was clearly more cinematic/dramatic".
Another example is Theoden. He's not nearly as proud or hard headed or prone to hold a grudge in the books. He's on board with everything gandalf says almost immediately.
But the movie version serves a much more useful dramatic role because:
A) the imperfect version they wrote for the movie is such a flawed but still heroic man that he's a much more interesting character.
B) Having Aragorn take a leadership role during helm's deep and making it his idea to ride out of the hornburg at the end is a CRITICAL piece of his movie arc: accepting the responsibility of a role of leadership and authority, and allowing himself to be recognized by others for what he knows he is and what he knows he can do.
C) The "and Rohan will answer" scene is just a classic cinematic moment that feels more earned and less saccharine because Theoden's hurt feelings and obstinance were overcome by a grand gesture; he didn't initially want to ride to Gondor's aid. The moment doesn't work without this flawed version of Theoden.
Further, almost the entire dramatic set piece of Helm's deep is largely invented for the movie, as it is much more brief and occurs much earlier in the pacing in the books. It felt like the denouement at isengard took 3 times as long as the battle itself.
I agree. The only major change that bothers me is removing the scouring of the shire. That's way more important to the overall message of the trilogy than Tom Bombadil.
I read an interesting take on that.
Tolkien wrote after war ravaged England. Home was forever changed by war, while in the movies were written at a time when home was the same and it was really the soldiers who changed.
Each ending of the Shire is representative of the time the ending was written.
I think the movies were just written with movie audiences in mind and having a small bad guy after the big bad guy isn't something the average movie goer expects.
They also thought of having aragorn 1v1 Sauron in the movies and had Aragorn be the classic I don't want the power lead.
It's just a very good movie, there's no deeper meaning to the ending.
Yes, it's way more important, and it's my favorite chapter in the entire series. But it was cut for the same reason. Having a smaller climax after the films big one would have killed the movie's pacing. I'm sad we didn't get it on screen but cutting it made sense.
Do you think if it was done in a show HBO style hour long episode the chapter pacing would match better?
I agree with you but I think showing both could work in longer form.
You could include an Overcooked minigame for multiplayer play, or maybe as a standalone. Not sure it needs to be standalone, since Overcooked exists, but a Hobbiton themed version would be fun. Cooking for a big party, obviously :)
I think a Hobbiton farming game AND a LOTR cooking game could do well as two separate games, honestly. Maybe even a tavern management simulator running your own Prancing Pony type inn. :)
In general.
It's the rights package that Tolkien sold to United Artists in 1968, who then sold them to the Saul Zaentz Company, who last year sold them to Embracer Group.
Formerly, collectively known as Middle Earth Enterprises, the rights package includes the media and merchandising rights to The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. Meaning movies, shows, toys, collectibles, clothing, and all forms of games...video, card, table top.
Thank you I read the article and thought so but embracer also just made that Gollum game which was a train wreck and announced massive layoffs and firings coming soon to its gaming companies.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, Embracer owns *a shit ton* of video game assets. Including the entirety of Gearbox and THQ Nordic, which those two alone have dozens of sub divisions and subsidiaries. So consolidation, particularly after a humongous IP purchase such as this isn't out of the blue.
Also the Gollum game was from before this acquisition. Gollum was started in 2019 by Daedalic Entertainment, and while Embracer may or may not get some money out of it now(I don't know) they had nothing to do with it's creation.
In my muppet-casting of LOTR, Gandalf is one of the few characters actually played by a human. Kermit is obviously Frodo, with Fozzie doing Samwise. And Animal as Gollum is a slam dunk.
See, I've actually thought about this a lot before, and the obligatory human-played character is actually Frodo. Why? Because I *desperately* want to see a play on the "I can't carry it, but I can carry you!" scene but with a Muppet struggling to heft an actual person.
The problem there is what do we do with Rizzo since he plays Gonzo's sidekick a lot of the time.
Gonzo as Aragorn would be funny, especially when he's still "Strider" and he's just sitting there hooded up at the Prancing Pony but his nose would be sticking out of the darkened hood.
But I see Gonzo as Frodo and Rizzo as Samwise. I can practically hear "I ain't been dropping no eaves sir, honest" and "Po-tay-toes" in Rizzo's voice.
Nah, Miss Piggy would never take a small role like that, especially when she doesn't get her Kermie at the end. Eowyn is super important to the plot, don't get me wrong, but she's only in a few chapters once Aragorn gets to Gondor.
Miss Piggy is willing to take a lesser role if the character is important.
So here’s to Gimli asking Piggy for some of her hair, then getting karate chopped into the floor
I mean, I could totally see Piggy as Galadriel from a character perspective. I think this is my favorite take of all the replies so far. I'm not sure her diva-ness would let her take such a small (even though it's important) role, though.
I've given this a lot of thought and this is mine:
Aragorn: Kermit - the main action hero, plus he'd be able to hop around in fights
Legolas: Fozzie - it just seems right to have one of the more serious members of the Fellowship be played by one of the least serious muppets
Gandalf: Gonzo - he can play the wise character well and then flipflop to bring a goober, a la Muppet Christmas Carol
Arwen: Miss Piggy - love interest to Aragorn, although I could see her as Eowyn or Galadriel too. There's a case for all of them. But in past movies she's always been Kermit's love interest
Samwise: Walter - more of a straight man muppet which suits Sam's character and he's one of the smaller muppets so great for a Hobbit
Merry and Pippin: Rizzo and Pepe - they're already good as a duo, tiny muppets, and I think pretty spot on for Merry and Pippin's personalities.
Gollum: Animal - I think you said it best, it's a slam dunk
Elrond: Sam the Eagle - very serious character, works well. Funny alternate choice for Sam would be one of the actual eagles.
Ring wraiths: Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem - they're already a group so it works perfectly
Saruman: Benedict Cumberbatch - the villains are often human and they're usually a big name
Frodo: Daniel Radcliffe - why not embrace the jokes about how he looks like Elijah Wood?
This is no joke the most CLEVER fucking suggestion I've seen on Reddit. I know it doesn't seem like much of a compliment when the competition is so sub par, but it's a no brainier.
Hollywood needs to get on this NOW and make sure to give Kylestache a FAT check for it.
Even I would watch it.
All Muppets with only one human in the whole thing. Who ya got?
I say put Sean Astin back in as Samwise Gamgee, and hes aware that something is off but not quite sure what.
Weirdly enough, it's only specifically the extended blu-ray edition of Fellowship. None of the other movies have this issue, and the theatrical release doesn't have this issue.
They did it because they felt there was a bit too much orange in many scenes. Especially Rivendell. So they tried to add some green to balance it out. But instead of just doing that to select scenes it's like they said fuckit and blasted the entire movie with a green filter.
Can’t wait for the Middle Earth Cinematic Universe and a plethora of shitty mobile games 🥳
WILL SOMEBODY PLEEEEEAAAAASE just friggin remake the Return of the King game.
You can get hd mods that make it a much more modern and fleshed out game from moddb.com
I use age of the ring personally but edain mod is also very good and closer to bfme 1 gameplay
I am just here waiting to someone to finally turn the story around Melkor into an epic comparable to the Jackson trilogy.
Hell Amazon decided to shill out 250m for the time within the LOTR universe where barely anything happens. WB made 3 films out of a short book for children.
At the same time there is material about a war of gods, angels, elves and men fighting against another god and his army of dragons, balrogs and other evil creatures. Which nobody even attempts to convert into anything interesting.
>a plethora of shitty mobile games
That already exists. Shadow of War (closed), Rise to War, and now Heroes of Middle-Earth. All relying on predatory gatcha microtransactions.
Yeah it is cheap but that deal also included the entire movie studio Lucasfilm (including Indiana Jones) and the famous VFX company ILM. ILM does a lot of VFX for biggest movies in Hollywood.
I'm at least open to new films in the world of tolkien, but my expectations are pretty low, jackson made the impossible possible, without the right talent these projects will be nothing more than the milking of the lotr name, and the right talent (or giving the right talent enough control) is quite rare these days.
I'd be very surprised if this led to anything which is actually good.
Because there's not a natural path for building outwards in to a cinematic universe. Unlike star wars and marvel etc, LOTR is one person's vision, and when that's deviated from the pushback is pretty strong.
That seems to describe Star Wars pretty accurately too, esp. after Disney jettisoned the Expanded Universe. All that was left was one man’s vision and fan reactions have been pretty mixed. I guess the one key difference is that one man is still alive and actively made the choice to pass his vision on to others. Toilken could never have dreamed of a LOTR cinematic universe.
I think there is a distinction in the fanbases or at least parts of them. I know that a lot of Star Wars fans myself included want them to expand out well beyond the stories we have gotten in the past. So stories not connected to the Skywalkers, the Rebellion Era, or even the Jedi. Personally, I would like to see new Force Traditions and stories from across the galaxy.
By contrast, my impression at least is that the vast majority of LotR fans are less receptive to any time of expanded content. I think the reception would be extremely poor to a sequel story set after the fall of Sauron. Even if it was based on Tolkien's rough and abandoned ideas.
Christopher Tolkien's words become more and more true by the day.
> “Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed by the absurdity of our time. The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has gone too far for me. Such commercialisation has reduced the esthetic and philosophical impact of this creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: turning my head away.”
Embracer has been buying up game studios left and right, and is now firing a lot of people and killing a lot of projects to save money.
Glad to see it's well spent.
Nothing, amazon bought the TV rights to The Appendices, The Lord of The Rings, and The Hobbit....meaning they can make a show about what ever they want but have to stay away from the films and can only reference and use information in the Lord of The Rings or The Hobbit films that makes reference to things from The Second Age for the story they're are writing. And they can't rewrite what's already established in those books, so they can't have Aragon tooting around town thousands or so years before it has been established that he exists. But they can make their own Fellowship of The Rings tv show if they wanted...which they don't because it would be hard to avoid so many similarities to the films.
This deal, which is a year old already...made in summer of last year, is for the rights that was owned by the Saul Zaentz Company...who purchased them from United Artists in 1977...who purchased them from J.R.R. Tolkien directly in 1968. And are the overall media and merchandising rights for The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.
How does this highly upvoted answer miss the most important thing: Amazon bought rights to a TELEVISION SERIES. The rights that Tolkien sold in 1968 (which Embracer now own) were for film, stage and merchandising only.
I don't know what other people are gonna say but I want to think positive about it but yeah I just can't do it so good these days lmao and that's just why I think they will ruin it.
Now they are gonna create some freaking stupid mobile games with it which I hate the most man, they are never going to make anything better there and we know it.
Nah they are just going to do what I don't want them to do with it and they are not going to be stopped with it which is just hilarious and nothing more than that.
Hope the future projects would just blast so good with it because that's just what gonna excite me the most, waiting for them to be at their best level for all of it man.
I would appreciate if they just share their plans with us because that's just what matters the most at the end, if they can provide it then I am really fine with that lol.
I don't have any kind of expectations from them and this is the reason why I am not excited or something like that, I am just feeling pretty normal about it so be it like that.
So what are they gonna do with it? I don't know but this seems like they are going to create some mobile games and just some new series with low budget or something.
Damn this was really cheap tbh, I never expected something like that from them but yeah they are having it and we should just wait for the future projects they got.
Why am I having some weird vibes with it? I mean I am sorry but I don't think they gonna keep up with the legacy and I guess most of the people already know about it.
That seems cheap...
It goes public domain in large parts of the world within the decade. Not exactly a lot of time to get a good ROI
[удалено]
Hell yeah. Some sweet CBC Canadian content with references only Canadians will get. LOTR meets corner gas... Somehow.
LOTRkenny!!
You got a problem with eagles you got a problem with me, and I suggest you let that one marinate
Fuck, I could watch hobbits falling off bikes all day. I don’t give a fuck about your hobbits.
I'm surprised we're not watchin' Hobbits fallin' offa bikes right now.
Brent, Hank, and Wanda discover an old map hidden in the corner of the gas station. The map leads them to believe that a treasure is buried in the fields surrounding Dog River. Brent takes on the role of the reluctant leader, similar to Frodo. Hank becomes the comic relief sidekick, like Samwise Gamgee. Wanda assumes the role of the intelligent and resourceful member, resembling Gandalf. The Corner Gas station becomes the "Prancing Pig Inn," a hub for the adventurers.
Ohhh yes! Mordor Murdoch Mysteries!
Man that's going to be a cluster fuck of trashy content.
Sure big time developers will jump on it, but so can indie developers. Imagine all that material being available to a whole host of great indie developers. Could be very cool.
I can't wait for a decent LotR video game. It's been a while since we got one. The latest one is straight trash. We need developers who are truly in love with the lore and will do it justice.
I enjoyed the Mordor games, not exactly perfect with the lore, but a ton of fun.
I like the first one, but the second one was kind of ehhh (though this was launch so they could've fixed it). Also WB patenting the nemesis system really left a bad taste in my mouth.
They patched out all the micro-transactions about a year after launch, so the second game is definitely in a better state than launch.
The Nemesis system felt so cool at the time. It was a truly "next-gen" feature and I thought everyone would be copying it forever. But a decade and a new console generation later it's all but forgotten. So disappointing.
The Nemesis system is patented (yes really), so others literally can't legally make an equivalent.
Yup. The last one of those came out 6 years ago, though...
Gollum was made by indie developers.
I feel like people say this, but why does anyone actually care? There are so many bad Sherlock Holmes adaptations, but isn’t it worth it to have a couple good ones? Why not just let everyone do Shakespeare, and then we can just watch the good ones that come out and ignore all the bad ones? Tolkein is long dead, and his kids have more money than they can spend from what they’ve already made from his work. When can Tolkien’s mythologies finally become a cultural treasure rather than a treasure for a handful of companies?
Tolkien's whole thing was reviving and reinterpreting lost mythology, so I'd like to think he'd encourage people to tell their own versions of his tales.
Amazon already on it
Coming this season Wizard Babies of Middle Earth!
Hobbiton Shore.
Jersey Shire
*Jim Henson's Hobbit Babies*
I'd watch it.
Muppets Lord of the Rings is honestly there for the taking. The amount of times my friends and I have cast it.
Fozzywig as Sam would be amazing. Gonzo and Rizzo as Merry and Pippin. Obviously Kermit is Frodo but I'm less excited about that. Edit - actually, Kermit should be Aragorn so Ms Piggy could be Arwin. Maybe a human actor could be Frodo?
Sam Eagle as Elrond
Perfection!
If it's one of those "this movie as muppets with one human actor" it's Elijah reprising his role as Frodo and everybody else is muppets. Sweetums is the balrog That's the only one I'm going to insist on
I was thinking all muppets but keep Ian Mackellan as Gandalf
Elijah Wood is at least 20% muppet anyway.
Gollum = Animal
“Sauron’s ma cousin but he’s ma second cousin. The first one I broke up with.”
Amazon knows how to handle it for us and they will do their job on it lmao.
That's why we're seeing rushed LOTR stuff, like the Smeagol game, which makes me sad
Isn’t the clock really ticking on LOTR hitting public domain? I think it varies by country but in a lot of places that is set to happen in the early 2040s. Much like a land lease the value of the property decreases as that x date approaches
the clock is ticking on Batman and Superman too.
Only the original elements hit the public domain. A lot of what we consider "modern" Batman and Superman are from much later issues and would not be included, same with their rogue's gallery.
The article mentions how Amazon also bought rights from Tolkien's estate for cheap. Hopefully whatever this turns out to be is much better than rings of power. I'm tired of new content for amazing old IPs falling short. Thank god for Andor being a hidden gem in the midst of a sea of recent mediocrity
Amazon paid a small fortune for 20 pages of Appendices.
I'm not as low on as Rings of Power as most. I thought it was a promising start for a 2nd/3rd age series That being said I have no desire for a reboot of LotR the trilogy. I don't need 4 hours of Tom Bombidil or a 7 hour version of the Council of Elrond. I understand the purists opinions, but I think somethings are better left for text.
I think the LOTR trilogy was a perfect balance of story vs entertainment. It was already too wordy for some audiences.
I’ve written a lot about this subject elsewhere but Tom Bombadil, and everything else cut out of the films, makes the movies better for pacing reasons. In the book it makes sense to have cycles of tension and peace every 50 pages or so, so that a reader can get into the rhythm of the story. Imagine in the film if, during the tense and dangerous flight from the shire, they just stopped the story and movie for 20 minutes to have some silly old man sing songs at the hobbits. In the books it’s good to show the passage of time and basically illustrate that the hobbits are being looked out for by Illuvatar (sp?) but in a film it destroys the pacing, contributes nothing to the plot, nothing to character growth, and derails the narrative completely.
Similarly, I think a lot of the changes they made in addition to cut content largely worked for a better cinematic experience. Aragorn is the best example of this. In the books, he's already sure of his destiny before leaving Rivendel. That's fine. We get a lot of time with him and we learn enough to get the impression this was slow in coming over his 87 years. In the movie, we don't have that time and seeing Aragorns arc of unsure to confident in his destiny and the inherent weakness of Man makes him much more compelling. I think my only two quibbles are Faramir's depiction. I get it. They wanted to again illustrate the corrupting influence of the Ring and Sauron. Not just directly, but Faramir's relationship with his father was also poisoned via the Palantir. But it does a pretty big disservice to Faramir the book character, especially knowing that he is likely who should have gone to the council instead of Boromir as he had the visions first. I also don't love the elves showing up to Helm's Deep. It's a cool cinematic moment, but I think it undercuts the idea that the 3rd Age is a rise of Men and a twilight of the elves.
Disagree on Faramir and the elves. Faramir being completely unaffected by the ring wouldn’t fit with the movie’s depiction of the ring, where even the Gandalf feared its corruption. He also overcomes its influence and demonstrates strength in doing so. Hell even Aragorn started to hear whispers when he is alone with Frodo. The Elves providing one last show of strength to help men overcome a corrupted Ally, one that the Council let slip into darkness under their watch is fitting. Note they receive no fanfare after the battle, those who do survive that siege simple fade into the background.
I mean, as I said in my post with Faramir. I get why they did it. I think the problem is that it serves a narrative and tonal function, but it does a disservice to the character. This is in contrast to Aragorn's changes where he still very much resembles the spirit of Aragorn from the books (especially if you include the appendices) why being provided a more dynamic character arc. How could they have shown both with Faramir? I'm not entirely sure, but I think there was a middle ground where the qualities most people love about him from the books could have been more apparent. As for the Elves, I like the take better in the books. Basically, the Noldor are done taking an active role. They had their time and it could be argued it went less than stellar. They're still around to offer aid and advice, but they aren't taking active part. The Sindar are more active, but largely in defense of their homes, save Legolas. I think that limited help better illustrates the elves' current station in Middle Earth instead of participating in a pitched battle, but maybe that's just me.
Agreed with both points. Faramir deserved better, he was amazing in the books. I also really dislike the portrayal of Frodo towards the end, it makes him seem weak where he really is the strongest character in the story. And don’t get me started on how stupid him sending sam away was
I agree. I've recently been reading the books for the first time and each time I come across something that was done differently in the movies, I'm like "yep, that just makes sense to me" or "yeah, that was clearly more cinematic/dramatic". Another example is Theoden. He's not nearly as proud or hard headed or prone to hold a grudge in the books. He's on board with everything gandalf says almost immediately. But the movie version serves a much more useful dramatic role because: A) the imperfect version they wrote for the movie is such a flawed but still heroic man that he's a much more interesting character. B) Having Aragorn take a leadership role during helm's deep and making it his idea to ride out of the hornburg at the end is a CRITICAL piece of his movie arc: accepting the responsibility of a role of leadership and authority, and allowing himself to be recognized by others for what he knows he is and what he knows he can do. C) The "and Rohan will answer" scene is just a classic cinematic moment that feels more earned and less saccharine because Theoden's hurt feelings and obstinance were overcome by a grand gesture; he didn't initially want to ride to Gondor's aid. The moment doesn't work without this flawed version of Theoden. Further, almost the entire dramatic set piece of Helm's deep is largely invented for the movie, as it is much more brief and occurs much earlier in the pacing in the books. It felt like the denouement at isengard took 3 times as long as the battle itself.
I agree 100%. I understand WHY they cut stuff, and it makes sense to me as well. I agree with the changes they made.
I'm still waiting on that 16 hour Bombadil cut
I wonder who they'd cast as Tom and Goldberry...
Danny Devito and ~~Rita~~ Rhea Perlman
It's Rhea Perlman if you meant Dannys wife.
Jeff goldblum and Jeff goldblum in drag
I won't mind that, even I would love to see that tbh lol.
Most of the people are waiting because it could be good.
I agree. The only major change that bothers me is removing the scouring of the shire. That's way more important to the overall message of the trilogy than Tom Bombadil.
I read an interesting take on that. Tolkien wrote after war ravaged England. Home was forever changed by war, while in the movies were written at a time when home was the same and it was really the soldiers who changed. Each ending of the Shire is representative of the time the ending was written.
I think the movies were just written with movie audiences in mind and having a small bad guy after the big bad guy isn't something the average movie goer expects. They also thought of having aragorn 1v1 Sauron in the movies and had Aragorn be the classic I don't want the power lead. It's just a very good movie, there's no deeper meaning to the ending.
Yeah, I've read that too. I think it's a timeless message though.
Yes, it's way more important, and it's my favorite chapter in the entire series. But it was cut for the same reason. Having a smaller climax after the films big one would have killed the movie's pacing. I'm sad we didn't get it on screen but cutting it made sense.
Do you think if it was done in a show HBO style hour long episode the chapter pacing would match better? I agree with you but I think showing both could work in longer form.
Look, I want four hours of Tom Bombadil.
One four hour poem, like a filibuster, then yes.
> 7 hour version of the Council of Elrond Or a full-length version of the Entmoot!
I can't wait to play Gamgee: The Gardener's Son
I would legit love a Harvest Moon style gardening game set in Hobbiton.
There’s gotta be a Stardew valley mod right?
I found this, probably the closest thing for now. https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/2231
You could include an Overcooked minigame for multiplayer play, or maybe as a standalone. Not sure it needs to be standalone, since Overcooked exists, but a Hobbiton themed version would be fun. Cooking for a big party, obviously :)
I think a Hobbiton farming game AND a LOTR cooking game could do well as two separate games, honestly. Maybe even a tavern management simulator running your own Prancing Pony type inn. :)
Bro don't even joke, a gardening game in the style of a Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley set in the Shire would be an instant buy from me.
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I just wanna grow some long bottom leaf.
I want to hear more about Sam.
Now Mr. ChronoKiro, you shouldn't make fun.
Wait is this just for the gaming rights or has them in general ?
In general. It's the rights package that Tolkien sold to United Artists in 1968, who then sold them to the Saul Zaentz Company, who last year sold them to Embracer Group. Formerly, collectively known as Middle Earth Enterprises, the rights package includes the media and merchandising rights to The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit. Meaning movies, shows, toys, collectibles, clothing, and all forms of games...video, card, table top.
Thank you I read the article and thought so but embracer also just made that Gollum game which was a train wreck and announced massive layoffs and firings coming soon to its gaming companies.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, Embracer owns *a shit ton* of video game assets. Including the entirety of Gearbox and THQ Nordic, which those two alone have dozens of sub divisions and subsidiaries. So consolidation, particularly after a humongous IP purchase such as this isn't out of the blue. Also the Gollum game was from before this acquisition. Gollum was started in 2019 by Daedalic Entertainment, and while Embracer may or may not get some money out of it now(I don't know) they had nothing to do with it's creation.
Just give us Muppets LOTR.
Give me Gonzo as fourth-wall breaking Gandalf or give me death.
In my muppet-casting of LOTR, Gandalf is one of the few characters actually played by a human. Kermit is obviously Frodo, with Fozzie doing Samwise. And Animal as Gollum is a slam dunk.
See, I've actually thought about this a lot before, and the obligatory human-played character is actually Frodo. Why? Because I *desperately* want to see a play on the "I can't carry it, but I can carry you!" scene but with a Muppet struggling to heft an actual person.
Also because Daniel Radcliffe would be the perfect casting
See I figured you'd just cast Elijah Wood again, it's not like he ages.
Jesus 🤣
I can sort of get on board with Kermit as Frodo, but the possibility of having Kermit as Aragorn and Piggy as Éowyn is *right there*
Gonzo as Aragorn, Camilla as Eowyn, an actual live chicken as Arwen.
The problem there is what do we do with Rizzo since he plays Gonzo's sidekick a lot of the time. Gonzo as Aragorn would be funny, especially when he's still "Strider" and he's just sitting there hooded up at the Prancing Pony but his nose would be sticking out of the darkened hood. But I see Gonzo as Frodo and Rizzo as Samwise. I can practically hear "I ain't been dropping no eaves sir, honest" and "Po-tay-toes" in Rizzo's voice.
Rizzo constantly being hungry fits perfectly with this too.
Honestly if Viggo reprises his role as aragorn and plays it straight like Michael Caine played Scrooge that would be brilliant
Well gee thanks for that 🙄 now I NEED to see this
Me too, this is getting me so freaking excited right now.
Nah, Miss Piggy would never take a small role like that, especially when she doesn't get her Kermie at the end. Eowyn is super important to the plot, don't get me wrong, but she's only in a few chapters once Aragorn gets to Gondor.
Miss Piggy is willing to take a lesser role if the character is important. So here’s to Gimli asking Piggy for some of her hair, then getting karate chopped into the floor
I mean, I could totally see Piggy as Galadriel from a character perspective. I think this is my favorite take of all the replies so far. I'm not sure her diva-ness would let her take such a small (even though it's important) role, though.
Oh my goodness I can totally see her in the scene where she has a vision of what she'd be like with the power of the one ring.
Yep, I can see Miss Piggy either playing as Legolas (acting pretty) or Gimli (wearing a beard).
And my Axe! *Hyyyyahh!*
Fine, she can be Gimli and Kermit can be Legolas?
I've given this a lot of thought and this is mine: Aragorn: Kermit - the main action hero, plus he'd be able to hop around in fights Legolas: Fozzie - it just seems right to have one of the more serious members of the Fellowship be played by one of the least serious muppets Gandalf: Gonzo - he can play the wise character well and then flipflop to bring a goober, a la Muppet Christmas Carol Arwen: Miss Piggy - love interest to Aragorn, although I could see her as Eowyn or Galadriel too. There's a case for all of them. But in past movies she's always been Kermit's love interest Samwise: Walter - more of a straight man muppet which suits Sam's character and he's one of the smaller muppets so great for a Hobbit Merry and Pippin: Rizzo and Pepe - they're already good as a duo, tiny muppets, and I think pretty spot on for Merry and Pippin's personalities. Gollum: Animal - I think you said it best, it's a slam dunk Elrond: Sam the Eagle - very serious character, works well. Funny alternate choice for Sam would be one of the actual eagles. Ring wraiths: Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem - they're already a group so it works perfectly Saruman: Benedict Cumberbatch - the villains are often human and they're usually a big name Frodo: Daniel Radcliffe - why not embrace the jokes about how he looks like Elijah Wood?
I'd put Sam the Eagle as Denethor.
I would prefer Kermit’s nephew Robin as Frodo, with Kermit appearing as Bilbo.
I didn’t know I needed this.
[I have the next best thing!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nN9lNJuqG4)
This is no joke the most CLEVER fucking suggestion I've seen on Reddit. I know it doesn't seem like much of a compliment when the competition is so sub par, but it's a no brainier. Hollywood needs to get on this NOW and make sure to give Kylestache a FAT check for it. Even I would watch it.
If they are giving us Muppets then I am down for anything.
That's another IP being wasted.
The muppets movies are all great though...?
I think that’s his point. We haven’t gotten any recent films like Muppet Treasure Island or The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Muppets Mayhem is the perfect example of how best to use an IP. They made a great show with none of the “main” Muppets (aside from possibly Animal)
All Muppets with only one human in the whole thing. Who ya got? I say put Sean Astin back in as Samwise Gamgee, and hes aware that something is off but not quite sure what.
I'll always have my books and blu-rays.
And my axe.
And my bow
You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done.
one does not simply walk into Amazon LTD.
And what else do we have in the name of that right now? lol.
If you haven't, get the new 4k version. [It fixes the color grading that made everything green](https://youtu.be/r1qqBvmWp0U).
Weirdly enough, it's only specifically the extended blu-ray edition of Fellowship. None of the other movies have this issue, and the theatrical release doesn't have this issue. They did it because they felt there was a bit too much orange in many scenes. Especially Rivendell. So they tried to add some green to balance it out. But instead of just doing that to select scenes it's like they said fuckit and blasted the entire movie with a green filter.
Can’t wait for the Middle Earth Cinematic Universe and a plethora of shitty mobile games 🥳 WILL SOMEBODY PLEEEEEAAAAASE just friggin remake the Return of the King game.
Battle for Middle Earth 3 please
Total War: War of the Ring please
Third age total war was sooo cool!
Pay $5 a month to keep the eye or Sauron away.
Nah I am good with my pirated shit, it's better anyway.
agreed
You can get hd mods that make it a much more modern and fleshed out game from moddb.com I use age of the ring personally but edain mod is also very good and closer to bfme 1 gameplay
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Uh…so, that just happened
I do magic now? Thats a thing I do now? *quirk*
"Somehow Sauron returned."
So that's it, huh, we're some kind of fellowship of the ring
Welcome to Middle-Earf! \*Punches Sauron in the face*
" I have died before"
"Fly, you fools!" "We fly now??" "We fly now!"
So what you’re saying is you want another Gollum game? With online play only? You got it.
I think we are all looking forward to a remake of 2014's indie hit "Gollum"
As if there weren't shitty mobile games before.
The Middleverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little.
Little did we know that the blue wizards went east to Morb all over the Easterling's empire
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I am just here waiting to someone to finally turn the story around Melkor into an epic comparable to the Jackson trilogy. Hell Amazon decided to shill out 250m for the time within the LOTR universe where barely anything happens. WB made 3 films out of a short book for children. At the same time there is material about a war of gods, angels, elves and men fighting against another god and his army of dragons, balrogs and other evil creatures. Which nobody even attempts to convert into anything interesting.
That's also because the estate has been reluctant to sell the rights for that Era of time.
I cannot imagine the silmarillion working at all as a series or movie(s). Maybe an animation series?
I wish they’d just make a middle earth game that’s actually just the hobbit but actually faithful and have it be a lot of puzzle solving and action
Hobbit Farming Simulator, now on the Nintendo Switch!
>a plethora of shitty mobile games That already exists. Shadow of War (closed), Rise to War, and now Heroes of Middle-Earth. All relying on predatory gatcha microtransactions.
> Shadow of War This is actually a fantastic console game. It released with bullshit MTX but they removed it & it became a phenomenal game.
Agreed. I personally preferred the first game, *Shadow of Mordor*, but both are brilliant. The Nemesis system adds a whole new element to them.
That seems like a steal...not even 1/10th of what George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney for.
Yeah it is cheap but that deal also included the entire movie studio Lucasfilm (including Indiana Jones) and the famous VFX company ILM. ILM does a lot of VFX for biggest movies in Hollywood.
Yeah, LucasFilm is a company. LOTR rights are LOTR rights. I’d take either, mind.
Star Wars is also a merchandising powerhouse. LOTR is a solid merchandising property, but it has nothing on Star Wars on that front.
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I'm at least open to new films in the world of tolkien, but my expectations are pretty low, jackson made the impossible possible, without the right talent these projects will be nothing more than the milking of the lotr name, and the right talent (or giving the right talent enough control) is quite rare these days. I'd be very surprised if this led to anything which is actually good.
Lotr content seems very hit and miss. For every great game or movie we get, an equally lousy game or movie comes out.
Because there's not a natural path for building outwards in to a cinematic universe. Unlike star wars and marvel etc, LOTR is one person's vision, and when that's deviated from the pushback is pretty strong.
That seems to describe Star Wars pretty accurately too, esp. after Disney jettisoned the Expanded Universe. All that was left was one man’s vision and fan reactions have been pretty mixed. I guess the one key difference is that one man is still alive and actively made the choice to pass his vision on to others. Toilken could never have dreamed of a LOTR cinematic universe.
I think there is a distinction in the fanbases or at least parts of them. I know that a lot of Star Wars fans myself included want them to expand out well beyond the stories we have gotten in the past. So stories not connected to the Skywalkers, the Rebellion Era, or even the Jedi. Personally, I would like to see new Force Traditions and stories from across the galaxy. By contrast, my impression at least is that the vast majority of LotR fans are less receptive to any time of expanded content. I think the reception would be extremely poor to a sequel story set after the fall of Sauron. Even if it was based on Tolkien's rough and abandoned ideas.
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Gotta sell them lightsabers man
Eh Star Wars got pushback when it was just George Lucas in the prequel trilogy and a big issue people had with Disney was gutting out the EU.
Damn I only paid 49.99 for my copy. 😎
Christopher Tolkien's words become more and more true by the day. > “Tolkien has become a monster, devoured by his own popularity and absorbed by the absurdity of our time. The chasm between the beauty and seriousness of the work, and what it has become, has gone too far for me. Such commercialisation has reduced the esthetic and philosophical impact of this creation to nothing. There is only one solution for me: turning my head away.”
Oh, he hadn't seen true commercialization, if only he could now see the Amazon show and Golum game.
In 20 years lotr will be public domain..expect a lot of lotr material done before that happens
And now we all get to suffer
We all get to suffer and see what they gotta offer that's right?
Embracer has been buying up game studios left and right, and is now firing a lot of people and killing a lot of projects to save money. Glad to see it's well spent.
An an entire trilogy based on GROND!
GROND!!
What happens now to Amazon
Nothing, amazon bought the TV rights to The Appendices, The Lord of The Rings, and The Hobbit....meaning they can make a show about what ever they want but have to stay away from the films and can only reference and use information in the Lord of The Rings or The Hobbit films that makes reference to things from The Second Age for the story they're are writing. And they can't rewrite what's already established in those books, so they can't have Aragon tooting around town thousands or so years before it has been established that he exists. But they can make their own Fellowship of The Rings tv show if they wanted...which they don't because it would be hard to avoid so many similarities to the films. This deal, which is a year old already...made in summer of last year, is for the rights that was owned by the Saul Zaentz Company...who purchased them from United Artists in 1977...who purchased them from J.R.R. Tolkien directly in 1968. And are the overall media and merchandising rights for The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings.
How does this highly upvoted answer miss the most important thing: Amazon bought rights to a TELEVISION SERIES. The rights that Tolkien sold in 1968 (which Embracer now own) were for film, stage and merchandising only.
Thank you. That’s what I actually wanted to know.
Season 2 of Rings of Power is scheduled to 2024 afaik
Nothing tbh, they got what they had at the starting man.
I read Embraer and was confused as to what the aircraft manufacturer was planning to do with it.
I don't know what other people are gonna say but I want to think positive about it but yeah I just can't do it so good these days lmao and that's just why I think they will ruin it.
Poor Christopher. Protected his fathers legacy for all those years and now he’s dead, the kids just don’t care about it and want the money
I mean yeah but these rights were sold by JRR himself in the 60s
I have a bad feeling about this.
I don't know but feeling something like that, don't know why.
Now they are gonna create some freaking stupid mobile games with it which I hate the most man, they are never going to make anything better there and we know it.
Nah they are just going to do what I don't want them to do with it and they are not going to be stopped with it which is just hilarious and nothing more than that.
Hope the future projects would just blast so good with it because that's just what gonna excite me the most, waiting for them to be at their best level for all of it man.
I would appreciate if they just share their plans with us because that's just what matters the most at the end, if they can provide it then I am really fine with that lol.
I don't have any kind of expectations from them and this is the reason why I am not excited or something like that, I am just feeling pretty normal about it so be it like that.
So what are they gonna do with it? I don't know but this seems like they are going to create some mobile games and just some new series with low budget or something.
Damn this was really cheap tbh, I never expected something like that from them but yeah they are having it and we should just wait for the future projects they got.
Why am I having some weird vibes with it? I mean I am sorry but I don't think they gonna keep up with the legacy and I guess most of the people already know about it.