Is Amazon's Lord Of The Rings series "The Sunk Cost Fallacy" is everything that

[Anthony W]

Is Amazon's Lord Of The Rings series "The Sunk Cost Fallacy" everything that is wrong with modern entertainment?

They are about to go over a BILLION dollars on this thing.

Already set for FIVE seasons, and Jeff Bezos never thought "Gee, with all this time and money maybe I should make something original. Should I make sure my people hire some proven writing talent as opposed to two guys no one has heard of that JJ Abrams said were cool? Two guys who have a habit of saying stuff like this “Can we come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote and do it as the mega-event series that could only happen now?”. Go ahead and say that quote out loud three times in a mirror and JJ Abrams will appear and shove you in a Mystery Box.

I'm just watching this trailer and thinking about so many projects that could have been launched instead and why I care about the entertainment options on something I use to order socks. This is the thinking behind this series in a nutshell...7g7ul8hwjvf81.jpg

[Bunch of Coconuts]

You're complaining about the writing quality of something you haven't viewed yet?

I just...I just want to make sure I'm clear on that.

[Anthony W]

You're complaining about the writing quality of something you haven't viewed yet?

I just...I just want to make sure I'm clear on that.

This quote...
“Can we come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote and do it as the mega-event series that could only happen now?”.

It just, frightened me.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

So..."yes"?

[numberthirty]

Is Amazon's Lord Of The Rings series "The Sunk Cost Fallacy" everything that is wrong with modern entertainment?

They are about to go over a BILLION dollars on this thing.

Already set for FIVE seasons, and Jeff Bezos never thought "Gee, with all this time and money maybe I should make something original. Should I make sure my people hire some proven writing talent as opposed to two guys no one has heard of that JJ Abrams said were cool? Two guys who have a habit of saying stuff like this “Can we come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote and do it as the mega-event series that could only happen now?”. Go ahead and say that quote out loud three times in a mirror and JJ Abrams will appear and shove you in a Mystery Box.

I'm just watching this trailer and thinking about so many projects that could have been launched instead and why I care about the entertainment options on something I use to order socks. This is the thinking behind this series in a nutshell...7g7ul8hwjvf81.jpg

Might want to think about thinking a little bit harder...

Accounting for that these are the folks who brought the world a "Shiny Happy People..." version of The Boys?

I wouldn't waste a whole lot of time thinking "What coulda been..." when we have seen what they actually do...

[choptop]

This quote...
“Can we come up with the novel Tolkien never wrote and do it as the mega-event series that could only happen now?”.

It just, frightened me.

Um why.....? I mean it looks okay so far.

[Castle]

There has been something about this series that just feels off to me. it could because

1. I feel the series is trying to answer game of thrones

2. Hollywood has never had it good doing prequels

3. The owner of amazon is so rich he feels he has money to waste and just rush into anything without thinking thoroughly

4. Its on amazon and I just think LOTR is still way too grand and so old school to try and fit into this hi-tech era of disney plus and hbo max

Something just feels fishy about the series, I smell disaster and lots of controversy coming it ways and I say this as a Lord of the rings fan who 20 years ago, the film trilogy was my pop culture everything.

[Kirby101]

This is not the Sunk Cost Fallacy. Whether the series is any good, or the amount spent is justified by the viewership are things we won't know until the series streams. We could also argue whether that amount is too much to spend on any series. But that has nothing to do with Sunk Cost.
Sunk Cost would be if the series is a disaster with low viewership and they spend another half a billion to keep it going in the hope people will start watching.

And they aren't anywhere near a billion $. They have spent $465 on the first season, which includes all the start up costs. It will go over a billion for the 5 seasons, but that would be if it goes 5 seasons. Then we can talk about Sunk Costs.

OMT, It appears part of that cost is the $250 million for the Rights.

[CSTowle]

Amazon's in the same place Netflix was a little while back, where they were just throwing money around like crazy and trying to make s##t stick. With something like this you have a household name brand, so it makes sense that they would throw some more money at it than say Wheel of Time or the Marvelous Ms. Maisel (which is f##king excellent, if you haven't seen it and don't mind venturing out of the fantasy/sci-fi/manga safezone).

So that said, is this going to suck? Maybe. Is it going to adhere to Tolkien's vision and lore? Probably not. Is it, like most of the Marvel movies in the past ten years, going to be a solid C time-waster with familiar enough concepts and enough nods to the lore to at least partially placate the ubernerds? That's what I'm expecting, and if we get better than that then great and if not then *meh*. I already sat through watching 9 hours of the decimation of my favorite childhood fantasy book in the Hobbit, so there's not much more they can do. Same with the new Star Wars sequel atrocity, I'd already lived the Prequels so what more can you do to me?

[Catlady in training]

I don't understand all this negativity about something that hasn't been released yet. Not just about this but in general, it sometimes seems to me like there's a contest on the internet in the last few years about who can have a most cynical take on TV/movies.

Regarding LOTR, it looks great to me so far. Sure, I have been more a fan of movies than books, I only read LOTR and Hobbit, none of the other material, so I don't come in with any expectations, other than to see some good stories in the universe I am already familiar with. And Amazon has already provided me with Good Omens which I love more than 90% of other shows, so I am not about to grumble about that.

I wonder if there would be all this fear about the upcoming series if the cast was all white...

[Immortal Weapon]

Is having black elves really worth this cynicism?

[thwhtGuardian]

Is having black elves really worth this cynicism?

I don't see a problem with casting black actors.

[Ready Eddie]

Is having black elves really worth this cynicism?

cultural appropriation

[choptop]

Is having black elves really worth this cynicism?

Does anyone really have a problem with that?

[80sbaby]

Does anyone really have a problem with that?

Lol of course they do (well, that and black dwarfs.)

As far as the show, I'm looking forward to it. As CSTowle said, I'm not expecting it to be the best thing ever but if it is, that's a bonus. Sometimes we fans can be our own worst enemies when it comes to expectations. I don know, maybe it's the fact I'm 45 and grew up with A LOT of crap sci-fi/fantasy so, for me, seeing all these projects being so mainstream and given a real chance makes me happy. There's more than enough good stuff out there that, if this is bad, it won't really bother me.