Time to practice your Elvish!
Big news for Middle Earth fans.
Amazon has picked its writers to plunge us back into the shadows of Mount Doom for its epic Lord of the Rings adaptation, tapping writing duo JD Payne and Patrick McKay for the honors. Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke made the announcement at the summer Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, on Saturday.
Payne and McKay have been writing together since their high school debate class and have recently worked on Star Trek 4 with J.J. Abrams, and the upcoming Jungle Cruise adaptation with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Emily Blunt.
In a press release, the duo said they were "absolutely thrilled" to be on board. "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."
The new series was announced last November and is slated to include a multi-season exploration of Middle Earth prior to the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.
“The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen,” said Amazon Scripted studio head Sharon Tal Yguado at the time. “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.”
No word yet on when we'll be seeing Hobbits, Elves or second breakfast on our small screens yet, but last year there was a mini-reunion of the Peter Jackson LOTR cast at Comic-Con. Take a look in the video below.
