When it came to a “Lord of the Rings” remake, star Sean Astin knew this day would be coming.
The actor, who portrayed Samwise Gamgee in the movie trilogy, told Entertainment Weekly he’s been saying all along that the fantasy films based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novels were due for some type of revisit.
“I’ve been saying for 15 years that maybe like 12 years after ‘Lord of the Rings’ came out, that it would get remade,” Astin said. “And people always said, ‘Oh no, it’ll never get remade! It’s a classic! They could never top it!’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’ll get remade.’ “
Astin was responding to a report from Variety that Amazon is in talks with Warner Bros. to adapt “The Lord of the Rings” into a TV show. (Time Warner is the parent company of Warner Bros. and CNN.)
The actor, who is starring in the Netflix hit “Stranger Things,” also discussed whether he’d be willing to participate in a TV adaptation.
“When I saw the Amazon thing, that didn’t even occur to me,” Astin told Entertainment Weekly. “I just sort of thought, ‘What would it be like to see the next Sam there?’ I think it’s an intriguing idea (but) the devil’s in the details. How would they do it? How? Who?'”
He told the magazine he hopes that if Amazon goes ahead it treats the project the way the movies were made, with director Peter Jackson being able to assert his vision.
“The challenge would be, could they find some team to do it that they could let (do) their thing, or are they going to squat on it?” he said. “It’s hard to make a TV series like this by committee.”