Amazon's 'Lord Of The Rings' Will Be The 'Most Expensive' TV Show

Well, it's official - The Lord of the Rings is getting a small screen remake that will become the most expensive TV show of all time.

Last year Amazon beat Netflix to the rights to make the series when they sealed a $250m deal with the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien, Harper Collins, and New Line Cinema.

According to the small print of the deal, Amazon must be in production of the series within two years of the deal being made or the rights revert back to the original owners. It is thought that once everything has been tallied up the show will have cost more than $1bn.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos reportedly set out with the intention of finding and creating something as successful as HBO's Game of Thrones and he may well have succeeded, providing his expensive gamble pays off.

As part of the deal that was thrashed out last year, the show seems likely to run for five seasons, with the possibility of a spin-off series. Basically, anything could happen - it's a really complicated agreement.

"But it was handled relatively quickly, in a way that brought the parties together in a close relationship. It was tough, but everybody liked each other and felt like a team more as the deal closed."

So, what do we know about the series so far?

Well, it's unlikely that they'll follow the same story as the three films did. What's the point in rehashing a story that was told so well - it won 21 Oscars for Christ's sake.

There is certainly enough material to work with - Tolkien famously created thousands of years of history for his vast world of Middle Earth.

One theory is that it could be the tale of a young Aragorn. Another is that it will mimic some of the plots for popular video games such as Shadow of Mordor.

Basically, everything between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring is up for discussion.

Regarding who will be involved in the project, very little is known at all. One thing we do know is that Ian McKellen wants to come back as Gandalf.

We probably won't learn a great deal about it for a while as they'll be taking years to produce it. At the price it is costing it's too big a gamble for them to fail.