Amazon is turning The Lord of the Rings into a TV series

Earlier this month, news broke that Amazon was closing in on a deal to bring J.R.R. Tokien’s The Lord of the Rings to life as a television series, and now it looks like it’s actually going to happen. 

Amazon has announced that it has acquired the global television rights for the book series, with a multi-season commitment in what may be its biggest and most expensive move yet to draw viewers to its streaming and shopping club Prime. But the twist is that this will apparently be a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, rather than the story audiences already know so well. 

Amazon says it will produce a multi-season series that explores new storylines preceding author J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, the first instalment in the famed fantasy trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” Sharon Tal Yguado, head of scripted series at Amazon Studios, said in a statement.

We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.

Amazon Prime heads to Middle Earth. https://t.co/QowUmf8t3S pic.twitter.com/YVciEX3u2t

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 13, 2017

Three movies made of the trilogy in the early 2000s, filmed in New Zealand and based on Tolkien's novels, garnered nearly $US3 billion at the box office and 17 Academy Awards.

New Line Cinema, which distributed the film trilogy, the Tolkien Estate and Trust, and publisher HarperCollins will work with Amazon to produce the television series.