‘Lord Of The Rings’ TV Series Writers' Room Taking Secrecy To The Next Level With Guards, Fingerprint Scans And Blocked Windows
The Lord of the Ringsis a very well-known story, even if you’ve never read the books. But that’s not stopping Amazon from taking secrecy to the extreme. TheLord of the RingsTV series writers' room is reportedly on heavy lockdown to avoid leaks – we’re talking security guards, fingerprint scanners, windows completely taped up, and collars that explode if anyone tries to escape. Alright, I made that last part up, but still – this seems like abitmuch.
We know very little about Amazon’s super-expensiveLord of the RingsTV series, and there’s a very good reason for that: Amazon is going to extremes to keep things under wraps. Much like Gollum clutching his precious ring, or Smaug hoarding his precious mountain of gold, Amazon refuses to let others in.
In an interview withTHR, Amazon Studios headJennifer Salkedetailed the lengths to which the secrecy is being maintained:
“There’s a fantastic writers room working under lock and key. They’re already generating really exciting material. They’re down in Santa Monica. You have to go through such clearance, and they have all their windows taped closed. And there’s a security guard that sits outside, and you have to have a fingerprint to get in there, because their whole board is up on a thing of the whole season.”
I get wanting to avoid spoilers from leaking, but this seems a bit extremed (and also sounds like a major fire hazard). Then again, theLord of the RingsTV series is rumored to be telling brand new stories we’ve never heard before, so while we all may know the general gist of what happens, we’re completely in the dark regarding where the series is going.
This uber-secrecy is becoming par for the course for major intellectual properties like this. For example: while makingStar Wars: The Force Awakens, director J.J. Abrams had Adam Drivershoot sceneswearing an X-Wing pilot uniform, even though by now we all know he doesn’t play an X-Wing pilot in the franchise. This was a bit of misdirection on Abrams' part, to throw off the scent of those sniffing out a scoop. And while shooting the upcoming final season ofGame of Thrones, HBO employed “drone killers” to literally shoot drone cameras out of the sky, in case anyone was trying to use them to spy on the set.
Sooner or later, specific details about theLord of the RingsTV series will start to trickle out. But it’s clear that that willonlyhappen once Amazon is damn well and ready. For now, if you really want aLord of the Ringsscoop, you’re going to need to try to infiltrate the Santa Monica writers room like Ethan Hunt breaking into the CIA in the firstMission: Impossiblefilm (note: this is a joke; please don’t do this, you’ll go to jail).
