MovieChat Forums > The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Discussion > Could "The Hobbit" and "LOTR" work as an...

Could "The Hobbit" and "LOTR" work as an HBO miniseries?

posted 6 years ago by Otter (24464)
9 replies | jump to latest

Since HBO is desperate to keep all its fantasy-loving subscribers and all the sensible people have left the other thread, why not ask.

Okay, if directed by someone with a light touch and a sense of humor, IMHO "The Hobbit" would be ideal for a one-season miniseries. It's episodic! Make it into episodes!

But how about LOTR? I don't know that it'd work as a miniseries lasting several years, for several reasons. For one thing, season 1 would have to take place in the Shire and environs, and I don't know how many mainstream viewers will be drawn in by a slow build of suspense in a setting where the biggest threat is a glimpse of a Nazgul, and the story really does require a few Shire episodes. And then there's the fact that everyone on Earth has either seen the PJ movies or read the books, so it won't be possible to build the kind of suspense that drew so many viewers to "Game of Thrones".

Could a faithful adaptation of Tolkien work as a limited series a la "GoT"?

[–] R_Kane (15828) 6 years ago

I think The Silmarillion and any unpublished Tolkien material has a much better shot. It’s not been as widely-read (and not at all viewed) as Hobbit and LOTR, but it IS well-known. The JRR Tolkien branding is solid gold, making Martin look like gold fill by comparison. Having read them all, I can tell you that reading The Silmarillion vastly enhances your enjoyment and understanding of the two other works. (Where did Orcs come from? The answer will shatter your heart.) Who but HBO could pull this off? It’s the kind of Tiffany project that makes HBO
drool.

And/or, continuing with firmly-established fantasy properties, a limited-run series, Conan the King, concluding the original Conan trifecta (NOT a trilogy and I’m not explaining why). Casting will be a bitch, but Arnie was, face it, cast for his body and his goofy humor. Do NOT cast The Rock, because The Rock brand is too well known and would distract the audience from what could be a truly tragic (in the Greek sense, not in the Lost sense) epic tale. Give it GOT production values, have David Mamet and Oliver Stone write the thing, have the score written by the guy who did GOT and Westworld. HBO, if you do either or both these projects, I want an Executive Producer’s credit and a cocaine and Ferrari expense account.

EDIT Also, pick up and continue Tarsem Singh’s Emerald City, dumped by NBC after one season. The series needed to be on premium cable, not on commercial and restricted broadcast network. I have never seen as visually stunning a series on network at any time. Let the story run truly dark. You MUST
bring Ana Ularu back as (The Wicked Witch of the) West and the original cast except perhaps for Dorothy. Get better writers; no one with The CW on her/his cv. The Oz books are legends. Make a series that tells them from start to finish.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

HBO is going with "His Dark Materials", which IMHO has the potential to be what HBO is looking for, and which has the advantage of being only partly and unsuccessfully filmed. It's a series of good solid books about likeable characters, it should serialize well.

As for the Silmarillion, don't get me started again! It doesn't have the potential to translate well to the small or large screen, and I will say why in great detail if anyone gives me the slightest encouragement. But the capsule version of why it won't film well boils down to three basic problems: 1) some of the characters are basically Gods and putting their doings on film always looks cheesy, 2) hardly any of the characters are relatable, being the highest sort of elves or valar or worse, and 3) the good guys lose and lose and lose, and finally there's a deus ex machina. Which happens away from the main narrative.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 6 years ago

Dark Materials gives me hope, as I think you and I have already established.

“The good guys lose” is the essence of Tragedy, from Oedipus Rex onward. The good guys win in LOTR, of which The Silmarillion is a precursor. By the way, if it’s not clear, I like and respect you, Otter. I am in no way trying to put you down. My point in The Silmarillion is that it sets up the grandeur of TLOTR. It’s a deferred gratification. Adults savor such. Children . . . do self-entitled bitching on the cesspool of the GOT mewlfwest, I mean, “discussion.”

No thoughts on Conan the King and Emerald City?

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I have no comment on "Emerald City" as I know nothing, and honestly, I think HBO can do better than "Conan the King". I mean I liked the stupid Conan movies back in the day, but I don't know that the story has the potential to bring enough mass-market subscribers to HBO to make it worth the production costs.

As for "The Sil", really, I don't think it has any potential as a filmed story. It's just too long and episodic for a feature film, and for a TV series... well, it starts out with the Valar creating the world and Melkor screwing things up, how can you film THAT? Okay, scrap that. Start with Finwe and his two marriages and three sons... except how can you film Valinor and the poisoning of the Two Trees? Okay, cut that, film it from the POV of the elves of Middle-Earth, they're more identifiable than the Noldor, and create some suspense over the discovery of the kinslaying at Aqualonde. Okay, THAT you can put on film, but... then what? Hundreds of years of war and infighting, that's what! With defeat after defeat and main characters dying one by one, tragedy after tragedy and the Children of Hurin on top of tragedy, and as I said, finishing with a deux ex machina that Tolkien didn't even try to describe.

Really, how many mainstream viewers do you think will be attracted to HBO by that? Because don't forget, the goal in making these things is to attract mainstream viewers and sell merchandise and syndication rights. I mean, "The Sil" is mandatory reading for any Tolkien geek and much beloved within the fandom, but I really don't think it'll ever be beloved by the mainstream.

No, if you want a show about Tolkien's world that'd appeal to the mainstream, make "The Adventures of Young Aragorn" or film the spectacular end of the second age. Either would work better for a TV series format.

[–] mikethemartian (6727) 6 years ago

I’m not much into the fantasy genre but the one movie I would love to see is one based on Elric of Melniboné.

[–] Jacksman344 (120) 5 years ago

It depends on how many pointless sex scene they can add. I don't think HBO subscribers can live a hour without a pair of tits hovering somewhere on the screen. Why don't they make there own Fantasy show. Call it Boners, Tits and Dragons. Oh that was Game of Thrones, Sorry.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

To be fair, "Chernobyl" is on HBO and has zero tits!

A couple of naked men to be sure, but some of them had their skin dissolving because of horrific radiation poisoning.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 5 years ago

There’s no such thing as a pointless sex scene.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8717) 5 years ago

Sounds like you may be unaware, but Amazon is working on an LOTR series. However, it sounds like it's going to cover an earlier age than the one in the books and movies.

Should be interesting though. If you haven't heard about it, look it up.