Rings Of Power: Amazon Expands Lord Of The Rings' Rights In A Game Changing Way (Rumor)
Amazon Studios' "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" series has boldly gone to areas of Middle-earth history where no adaptation has gone before. The show, which is set in the Second Age, is building a story based on the outlined and, at times, sparse source material that Tolkien composed about that era (which precedes "The Lord of the Rings" story by several thousand years).
Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have already made it known that they have fairly restricted access to the source material. This makes their gargantuan task that much more difficult to pull off. As was already made clear in Season 1, the creative duo has come up with a variety of non-canon characters and storylines to fill in their narrative as they try to create a coherent story from Tolkien's notes and summaries. Now, a recent rumor from the fansite Fellowship of Fans indicates that heading into Season 2, Payne, McKay, and Company may have gained access to a little more source material to work from. The rumor states that for the show's upcoming Season 2 story arc in the eastern Middle-earth region of Rhûn, the team has obtained special access to a pair of partial texts outside of their primary rights agreement with Amazon.
If the scoop is true, it could give Amazon Studios the right to use a pair of characters that were previously challenging to incorporate into their story. It could also indicate that the show (which is mapped out for five seasons) could potentially expand its storytelling rights as it goes along — doubtless depending on how much cash they're willing to cough up in exchange for the permission to reference particular aspects of Tolkien's expansive world.
What rights does Amazon even have in the first place?
Before we explore this new, buffet-style rumored rights acquisition, let's consider what Amazon Studios has to work with in the first place. In an interview with Vanity Fair in the leadup to the premiere of Season 1, JD Payne explained, point blank, "We have the rights solely to The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, the appendices, and The Hobbit," adding, "And that is it. We do not have the rights to The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle-earth, or any of those other books."
In that same interview, Patrick McKay pointed out that they have a lot of leeway to fill in the gaps in the lore as long as they're not egregiously contradicting the source material. Payne referred to it as connecting stars in the sky. While flexibility in storytelling is helpful though, if you don't have access to a piece of information in the first place, it's hard to connect dots and fill in gaps. That's where the new leak, if true, would be a game-changer. Fellowship of Fans claims, "For Rhun Amazon got special permission and access to two texts outside of the Appendices- one being from the Unfinished Tales around the Istari and consequently access to use all 5 wizards if needed. The other text they got access to is where Tolkien mentioned some of the Istari being around in the Second Age and travelling East."
As insignificant as getting access to a pair of minor text sounds, the ability to work with the Tolkien Estate to obtain rights for further specific pieces of information surrounding Tolkien's lore could be revolutionary.
Unlocking the Blue Wizard source material
The "Rings of Power" showrunners and writers are attempting to cobble together a consistent story from the breadcrumbs of Second Age information that Tolkien provided in "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit." If they have, indeed, gained access to portions of the author's other Middle-earth manuscripts, it could allow them to tell a story much more focused on Tolkien's original vision for the Second Age. This is especially true when it comes to their use of Wizards (most of whom aren't supposed to arrive until after the Rings of Power story ends).
"The Lord of the Rings" books make passing references to the larger Order of Wizards. Saruman, for instance, references the rods of the Five Wizards when arguing with Gandalf in the wreckage of Isengard. By and large, though, the two Blues go unmentioned. Tolkien had to flesh out what few details we have about them in other sources — primarily the ones that the showrunners listed as off-limits for the show.
In Fellowship of Fans' scoop, the "Unfinished Tales" reference is likely referring to all or part of an essay Tolkien wrote on the Wizards or "Istari." The other is probably talking about a brief mention in "The Peoples of Middle-Earth" book. This talks about Tolkien's late-in-life adjustment to the Blue Wizard storyline, where he has them come earlier in the Second Age.
If these are, indeed, the texts in question and the rumor is true, the show could create a more lore-accurate Second Age Wizard story with the Blue Wizards in the East. It also means Amazon Studios could have potential "a la carte" access to previously unavailable source material, which could be a huge boon for a show with a lot of story left to tell.