While Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is trying to be the next big series that will captivate the world, it isn't trying to compete with Peter Jackson's trilogy or Game of Thrones.
Speaking to Empire Magazine, co-showrunner Patrick McKay acknowledged the impressive feat Jackson and his team accomplished with their adaptations of Tolkien's work alongside stating this new team is just "admirers from afar."
Empire Magazine also shared an exclusive image of a snow-troll from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
"Anyone approaching Lord Of The Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about how wonderfully right Jackson got so much of it,” McKay said. “But we’re admirers from afar, that’s it. The Rings Of Power doesn’t try to compete with him.”
Game of Thrones is another property this new series is not aiming to compete with, despite it taking the world by storm in the years since Jackson's The Return of the King premiered in theaters in 2003. Game of Thrones as an IP is an intriguing comparison as it not only shares similarities with The Lord of the Rings, but the series' prequel House of the Dragon debuts just a couple of weeks before Rings of Power.
According to McKay, however, they are staying true to the Tolkien mission and not getting caught up with what the "Joneses" are doing.
"You can psych yourself out in keeping up with the Joneses, but one of the mantras on this was ‘go back to the source material,'" McKay said. "What would Tolkien do? Some of these other competing properties – they play one octave really beautifully, but Tolkien was playing every note on the piano. He had that variety of tones.
"There’s the whimsy, friendship and humour that Harry Potter is so beloved for – but there’s sophistication, politics, history, mythology and depth, too. So for us, it was about going deeper into what we are, rather than worrying about what other folks are doing.”
For more on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power before its premiere on September 2, check out a look at the series' characters, why Gandalf probably isn't in the series, and our explainer of The Lord of the Rings' Second Age - the time in which the show takes place.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
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Speaking to Empire Magazine, co-showrunner Patrick McKay acknowledged the impressive feat Jackson and his team accomplished with their adaptations of Tolkien's work alongside stating this new team is just "admirers from afar."
Empire Magazine also shared an exclusive image of a snow-troll from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
"Anyone approaching Lord Of The Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about how wonderfully right Jackson got so much of it,” McKay said. “But we’re admirers from afar, that’s it. The Rings Of Power doesn’t try to compete with him.”
Game of Thrones is another property this new series is not aiming to compete with, despite it taking the world by storm in the years since Jackson's The Return of the King premiered in theaters in 2003. Game of Thrones as an IP is an intriguing comparison as it not only shares similarities with The Lord of the Rings, but the series' prequel House of the Dragon debuts just a couple of weeks before Rings of Power.
According to McKay, however, they are staying true to the Tolkien mission and not getting caught up with what the "Joneses" are doing.
"You can psych yourself out in keeping up with the Joneses, but one of the mantras on this was ‘go back to the source material,'" McKay said. "What would Tolkien do? Some of these other competing properties – they play one octave really beautifully, but Tolkien was playing every note on the piano. He had that variety of tones.
"There’s the whimsy, friendship and humour that Harry Potter is so beloved for – but there’s sophistication, politics, history, mythology and depth, too. So for us, it was about going deeper into what we are, rather than worrying about what other folks are doing.”
For more on The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power before its premiere on September 2, check out a look at the series' characters, why Gandalf probably isn't in the series, and our explainer of The Lord of the Rings' Second Age - the time in which the show takes place.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Continue reading...