Will 'LOTR: Rings of Power' be canceled? Horse death has echoes of ill-fated HBO TV show 'Luck'
LONDON, UK: Prime Video's ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ faced a difficult past week as a horse working on the show died. As per reports, the animal lost its life on March 21 due to a cardiac arrest. At the time of the incident, over 30 horses were present there.
A spokesperson for Amazon Studios said, per The Guardian, “We are deeply saddened to confirm that a production horse died. The incident took place in the morning whilst the horse was being exercised prior to rehearsals.
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“The trainer was not in costume, and filming had yet to commence. Both a veterinarian and a representative of the American Humane Association were present at the time. The independent necropsy has confirmed that the horse died of cardiac failure,” the spokesperson added.
‘They have the option to use CGI’
Soon after the news of the horse’s death came out, PETA accused ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ of animal abuse. The organization's Senior Vice-President Lisa Lange stated, “It seems that living underground with the orcs is par for the course for the producers of The Rings of Power, because they have the option to use CGI, mechanical rigs, and other humane methods.”
“Peta is calling on the show’s creators – and all other producers – to take on a new quest without using any real horses,” Lange added.
However, this is not the first time 'The Lord of the Rings' franchise faced PETA's ire. In 2012, ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ was embroiled in a controversy after animal handlers held it responsible for the deaths of three horses and some other farm animals.
Later, director Peter Jackson reportedly asserted that nothing of such ill thing happened and added, “The production regrets that Peta has chosen to make such a serious allegation, which has distressed many of the dedicated Kiwis who worked with animals on the film.”
Will ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ end like HBO’s ‘Luck’?
With this latest case, people have started speculating if ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ will end as HBO horse-racing series ‘Luck’. Earlier in March, the show's executive producers, David Milch and Michael Mann, reportedly made the difficult decision of shutting it down after a third horse died during shooting.
Both the producers issued a joint statement, per The Wrap, which read, “The two of us loved this series, loved the cast, crew and writers. This has been a tremendous collaboration and one that we plan to continue in the future.”
HBO also released a statement that read, “Safety is always of paramount concern. We maintained the highest safety standards throughout production, higher in fact than any protocols existing in horseracing anywhere with many fewer incidents than occur in racing or than befall horses normally in barns at night or pastures.”
The company added that “accidents unfortunately happen and it is impossible to guarantee they won’t in the future. Accordingly, we have reached this difficult decision.”
