HBO Passed On The ‘Lord Of The Rings’ TV Series – Here’s Why
By Jacob Hall/Nov. 30, 2017 1:00 pm EST
If you’re hoping for a big, dramatic reason why HBO (the home of the Peakest TV of the Peak TV era) decided to not enter the Lord of the Rings business, settle down. It’s nothing too juicy.
Variety reports that the network said no to Middle-earth for one simple reason: they already have Westeros. Why pay out the nose for a massively popular fantasy world when you already have the rights to one that you’ve cultivated and grown and transformed into a modern pop culture institution? Why does the network that makes Game of Thrones, and is currently planning multiple spin-offs to fill the void when the show ends after its fifth season, need Lord of the Rings? They don’t! While Lord of the Rings (and to a lesser extent, the Hobbit prequels) were big screen blockbusters, they have yet to prove themselves as viable for television adaptation. HBO is sitting pretty with Game of Thrones. They don’t have to build anything new. It’s cozy in the Red Keep. It’s good to be king.
The Variety article is full of business-speak that backs all of this up, including a quote from HBO CEO Richard Plepler, who said, “I’d rather own our IP [intellectual property] 100%…and I’d rather have the ability to work with a product that is inextricably linked to our brand.”
