Lord of the Rings fans react to ‘gorgeous’ first-look image of new Amazon TV adaptation

Are they Tolkien it too far?

Lord of the Rings fans have reacted to the first image of Amazon’s new high-budget TV adaptation.

The series will be set in JRR Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle Earth, but the story will take place in a different era of time to Peter Jackson’s acclaimed film trilogy.

Yesterday (2 July), a verified Twitter account called “The Lord of the Rings on Prime” shared an image of a landscape from the series, alongside the caption: “On September 2, 2022, a new journey begins.”

Many fans were ecstatic about the prospect of a Lord of the Rings TV series, which has been years in the making.

“OMFG I’M SCREAMING,” wrote one excited Twitter user.

“My god,” wrote another. “That looks absolutely gorgeous.”

Some speculated that the presence of two trees in the distant background of the image were the “Trees of Valinor” – meaning that the landscape depicted is actually from the First Age. The series had been expected to take place during Middle Earth’s so-called Second Age. This has led many to wonder if it’s actually an adaptation of Tolkien’s Silmarillion collection.

Others suggested that the figure seen in the foreground of the image was in fact the elf Galadriel.

Some fans reacted less positively to the post, with some questioning whether another Lord of the Rings adaptation was necessary.

One person accused the world of “milking Tolkien’s IP [intellectual property] for every last nickel and dime”.

“I know if I were given nearly half a billion dollars to do some Lord of the Rings s*** my first directive would be ‘make it look precisely like the trilogy we’re all kinda tired of at this point’, very smart,” wrote another.

With a reported budget of around $60m per episode, the show is expected to be the most expensive TV series ever made.