'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power': Showrunners credit creator JRR Tolkien, 'this story isn't ours'
HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' has captivated fans; for the showrunners, Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, there are certain expectations that are to be met when the series premieres on Amazon Prime Video in September.
In an interview during the Television Critic Association’s press tour, the showrunners were asked if the show was "vaguely connected" to Tolkien’s books. The reply was the duo explaining that there was no fantasy world if not for Tolkien. It took the writer more than a decade to pen down 'The Lord of the Rings' and for the developers, it was only fair that they gave complete credit to Tolkien who died in 1973.
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“I just want to sort of quibble with the ‘vaguely connected,’” said McKay (Via IndieWire). “We don’t feel that way. We feel like the deep roots of this show are in the books and in Tolkien. And if we didn’t feel that way, we’d all be terrified to sit up here. We feel that this story isn’t ours. It’s a story we’re stewarding that was here before us and was waiting in those books to be on Earth. We don’t feel ‘vaguely connected.’ We feel deeply, deeply connected to those folks and work every day to even be closely connected. That’s really how we think about it.”
“We think about [Tolkien], his life’s work was creating this world. This is Tolkien’s Middle Earth and regions beyond Middle Earth and we just wanted to be true to that,” he added. “Tolkien’s work is endlessly applicable across cultures and across times, and we feel really grateful to be able to bring it to life in our time.”
Per Amazon, the official synopsis reads, "This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
"Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone."
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' premieres September 2 on Amazon Prime Video.