 | |
| Tolkien Estate | |
|---|---|
| Company Information | |
| Founded | 1996[1] |
| Founder | Christopher Tolkien |
| Location | Oxford |
| Type | Legal organisation |
| Key people | Christopher Tolkien Priscilla Tolkien Baillie Tolkien Michael George Tolkien |
| Website | www.tolkienestate.com |
The Tolkien Estate is the legal body which manages the copyrights of most of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. It mainly holds the copyright over the literary texts. Christopher Tolkien and his sister, Priscilla Tolkien, were executors. Current executors of the estate include Christopher's second wife Baillie Tolkien and Christopher's nephew Michael George Tolkien. Cathleen Blackburn of Manches & Co. has been the estate's solicitor for many years.
The film and merchandise rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were sold by J.R.R. Tolkien, and are currently owned by Middle-earth Enterprises, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises, a company currently controlled by Embracer Group, while the television rights of these two books remained with Tolkien Estate.
On 13 November 2017, it was announced that Amazon Studios had acquired the television rights of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, committing to a multi-season television series. The series is not a direct adaptation of both of these novels, but instead it features stories that are set before the events of The Lord of the Rings.[2] Amazon said that the deal included the potential production for a spin-off series as well.[3] The press release referred to "previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings". Amazon is the producer in conjunction with the Tolkien Estate itself, The Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ Raphaëlle Rérolle, "Tolkien, The Ring of Discord", Le Monde, accessed 2 June 2025
- ↑ Samuel Axon, "Amazon will run a multi-season Lord of the Rings prequel TV series" 13 November 2017, arstechnica, accessed 22 March 2021
- ↑ Sandra Gonzalez,, "Amazon announces 'Lord of the Rings' TV show" 14 November 2017, CNN Edition, accessed 22 March 2021
- ↑ "‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Coming to Amazon", New York Times, accessed 13 November 2017