How Amazon secured streaming rights for 'The Lord of the Rings'

Amazon won the rights battle with Netflix and HBO for the Lord Of The Rings Tv adaptation.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, citing well-placed sources, HBO eyed to retold Peter Jackson's beloved Lord of the Rings trilogy or "Third Age," which went on to bag 17 Oscars and grossed $3 billion.

Though the Tolkien estate has issues with Jackson's films (the late Christopher Tolkien, the author's son, said they "eviscerated" the books), they are not interested in telling the same again.

However, the shock came with Netflix pitched, as the report added, the streaming giant pushed to do several shows on single characters, such as a Gandalf series and an Aragorn drama. "They took the Marvel approach," said one insider to the talks, "and that completely freaked out the estate."

On the contrary, Amazon's negotiating team angled their pitch to the estate not restricted to a specific pitch, but with a promise of closely collaborating with the estate to safeguard Tolkien's legacy.

Further, THR adds the oft-repeated $250 million figure was the bid of Netflix, not Amazon's. But the eCommerce giant number was tens of millions less.

"It was our collective passion and fidelity to Tolkien that really won the day," says Amazon Studios T.V. co-head Vernon Sanders.