Re: LOTR in the Future at Universal Studios??

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I know what to make of it: please, by all that is holy, no.

The Tolkien Estate has gone a little rogue of late since CJRT gave up control, but I always thought this would be one line they would not cross lest the big guy himself rise from the grave and strike the entire family down with lightning bolts.

If it comes to pass, it will certainly prove that nothing truly is sacred.
This Space for Rent

Re: LOTR in the Future at Universal Studios??

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I think theme parks were mentioned as a possibility a few years ago when news first broke of CJRT's retirement and the deal with Amazon. These days with parks like Harry Potter World (or whatever it's called) and Galaxy's Edge being big draws, it's only natural that someone with the rights to do this with Middle Earth would be thinking about it. And while it's easy to pigeonhole as crass exploitation (I might even think of it as that myself), at the same time there's an aspect of it that appeals to me, that Middle-earth could compete in this league alongside Harry Potter and Star Wars. In any event, I'm neither worried or excited about it, as I doubt it will actually materialize. Even the Hobbit movies are years in the past now and I'm not sure Middle-earth retains that much appeal among the larger, more casual fan group that were not Tolkien devotees like us. Put another way, there's been talk for years of a Star Trek theme park, but the closest that ever came to fruition was the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas, and even it is now gone.

I must say as far as personal aghastness at Tolkien exploitation goes, I found that in the form of LOTR movie-themed slot machines or video poker at a casino in Milwaukee a number of years ago. I was there to see a concert in the casino's theater. I don't gamble but am not opposed to legalized gambling (and taxation thereof) but I think Tolkien might have been appalled by it. Certainly, it was jarring to see his work being used to promote a "vice." And this was in the fall of 2012, so I probably thought, oh crap, maybe the world is going to end at the end of the year!
"Olorin I was in the West that is forgotten...."

Re: LOTR in the Future at Universal Studios??

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@ Olorin...you are forgetting the likely resurrection of interest in ME should the Amazon series come to fruition.
So I think it highly probable this project will happen.
Of course one can always hope that it will be totally destroyed by a Cat 5 hurricane.
Not that I wish anyone to be hurt, but no one should be in a theme park during a monster hurricane in the first place.
It would be more than gratifying to see the whole obscene edifice (so to speak) come crashing down like Barad-dur....

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL
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