Amazon is trying to get Peter Jackson involved in The Lord of the Rings prequel, which has a five-season commitment

The Hollywood Reporter

Amazon has two years to begin production on the expensive prequel -- which could cost more than $1 billion -- or else the rights will  revert back to the J.R.R. Tolkien estate, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Peter Jackson's attorney, Peter Nelson, has recently helped start a dialogue between the filmmaker and Amazon. "It's very much a creature of the times," Nelson says of the Amazon deal. "We are in an era where streamers are bidding up the price of programming. I think Amazon is taking a page out of the studios' emphasis on franchises. They also are realizing that with the overproduction of television, you need to get the eyeballs to the screen, and you can do that with franchise titles."