Amazon Announces ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Showrunners At Summer 2018 TCA

Amazon made their first appearance at TCA since scandal forced an exodus of the studio’s biggest executives and Jeff Bezos demanded the service discover the “next Game of Thrones.” Today, there was finally an update on that front. Jennifer Salke, the new Head of Amazon Studios, announced that they had closed a deal with showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay to oversee the new Lord of the Rings-inspired series, set in the time before the epic adventure. The two co-writers wrote the upcoming Star Trek 4 and Jungle Cruise.

In a statement released by Amazon, the pair said, “The rich world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity. We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Amazon to bring it to life anew. We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care — it is the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime.”

However, that was just the tip of the iceberg for Amazon Studios. At the end of the panel, Salke announced that Marvel directors The Russo Brothers are going to launch a major global TV event that would “challenge” convention and we finally got word that Matt Weiner’s follow up to Mad Men, The Romanoffs, will debut on October 12, 2018. The network also offered critics a preview of Sam Esmail’s new half-hour drama series, Homecoming, starring Julia Roberts, and introduced the stars and producers behind their biggest runaway success of the year,The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

In addition to these previews, Salke announced that Amazon had ordered The Expatriots to series. The show is produced by Nicole Kidman’s Blossom Films and is based on the novel by Janice Y.K. Lee. Amazon also granted a two-season order to THEM, a new horror event series from producer Lena Waite. According to another Amazon press release, the first season, THEM: Covenant, will be about a family that moves from 1953 North Carolina to “an all-white Los Angeles neighborhood.” Amazon also greenlit a sci-fi rom-com from Greg Daniels called Upload.

During a Q&A session with the press, Salke confirmed that Transparent Season 5 is a-go, and while they cannot yet reveal how the series will handle Jeffrey Tambor’s departure, Amazon Studios does know showrunner’s Jill Soloway’s plan. Salke also teased that Soloway has shared more ideas for future projects after this final bit of “closure” for Transparent fans.

Maybe the biggest story, though, is the fact that Amazon Studios seems confident about the road ahead. The narrative of late has been that Amazon had lost its upward groove after the scandals surrounding Transparent’s Jeffrey Tambor and the sexual harassment allegations that pushed former head Roy Price out of office. Salke was joined on stage with new co-heads of TV, Albert Cheng and Vernon Sanders. The panel’s diversity was not lost on the press, though Salke maintained that the new leadership was selected on merit and not to fit some strategy.

Salke teased a new improved User Interface for Amazon’s video platform — even going so far as to say that she has a phone in her office where you can see it, and that members of the press are invited to visit her to see for themselves. Salke also confirmed that Amazon has stopped using their former interactive “pilot seasons” which let users vote on their favorite pilots. While Salke said, “never say never” as to the programming gambit’s return, Cheng explained that it took too long for customers to get full seasons of the show they wanted, citing “protracted time” between voting for a pilot and getting the season uploaded to the service.

Finally, when asked if there was a reason that Amazon seemed to be scooping up so many books for TV adaptation, the executives offered creative and fiscal reasons behind this. Sanders said that they look for “page-turners” as great source materials for Amazon series and Salke added that full-length novels can give you a fuller picture of what the series will be. Salke also mentioned that every time they announce a book-to-TV adaptation, book sales spike. When a reporter joked that mean Amazon is going to make money no matter what, Salke said, “I never thought of it that way.”  But she also said she believed that sales of The Expatriots were likely spiking in real time.

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