Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Secures ‘Star Trek’ Writing Team

Amazon has chosen not just one writer but two to rule them all when it comes to their Lord of the Rings TV series.

Amazon has tapped Star Trek 4 writers John D. Payne and Patrick McKay to develop their small-screen take on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke revealed at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

“The rich world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity,” Payne and McKay said in a joint statement. “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.”

As announced last fall, Amazon has a multi-season deal with Warner Bros. to create the Lord of the Rings television series for its Amazon Prime streaming service. The series is expected to enter production in the next few years with the current target date for the first season to hit the streaming service being 2021. However, beyond today’s announcement that Payne and McKay are going to be part of the team involved in making the series not much else is known about Amazon’s plans for the fantasy series. There have been multiple rumors as to what the show may or may not feature, including those that indicate the series could focus on the adventures of a young Aragorn.

What is known is that the series will be exploring new stories that precede Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring and that Amazon has been working with Simon Tolkien, grandson of the legendary writer, to create something that Salke hopes will satisfy fans.

“All of us would love a big, addictive show that is executed at the top of its game,” Salke said previously. “We’re really excited about Lord of the Rings. Despite all the chatter about it, the deal just closed a month ago. We’ve been talking to writers. We have an estate that’s very active. I’ve spent three hours with Simon Tolkien. There’s a lot of moving parts with it. We’ll have some game plan to move forward with very soon.”

And, according to Salke, there is still some hope that those plans to move forward will also include filmmaker Peter Jackson who directed, wrote, and produced The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

“He may say he is involved or he’s not involved,” Salke said. “We’re still very much in conversation with him about what kind of involvement he would propose.”

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