There Is More I Want From ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Than Simply Increasing My Wealth, Says Jeff Bezos
In spite of the fact that Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, he is still a huge “Lord of the Rings” fan at heart.
As Prime Video prepares to release the highly anticipated prequel “The Rings of Power” before the first weekend in December, the 58-year-old billionaire assured concerned fans that he sees the project more as than simply a cash cow, as some people had previously claimed.
There Is More I Want From ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Than Simply Increasing My Wealth, Says Jeff Bezos
As much as Middle-earth is a beloved world, telling the story of the forging of the ‘Rings of Power’ is a privilege and a responsibility, as it is the story of how they came to be forged.” “I hope we do [author J.R.R.] Tolkien’s work justice,” he told Time magazine in an email exchange.
I believe it goes beyond just making a show that is commercially successful. It is imperative that everyone working on the show reads these stories as a kid, and our hearts are in it,” he continued.
The series, which is set 3,000 years before the original cult-classic films, is being hailed by critics as Prime Video’s big-ticket item to stay relevant in the streaming service space because it is set 3,000 years before the original movies. There are some who are concerned that Amazon only acquired the series in order to attract subscribers – and, therefore, money – to the service.
In spite of this, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is reported to be a huge fan of sci-fi and fantasy, so much so that he personally advocated for a “Lord of the Rings” spinoff during negotiations in 2017, Variety reported at the time.
Additionally, it has been reported that he also helped save SyFy’s “The Expanse,” which was close to being shut down in 2018 until Prime Video stepped in and streamed it for free.
In 2017, Jeff Bezos played a key role in Amazon’s deal to acquire the rights to “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” for $250 million.
While he vowed to stay true to Tolkien’s original tales, Amazon also created racialized roles as a means of modernizing the story while staying true to Tolkien’s original tales.