There are big changes happening with the estate of Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien. Following news that Amazon and Warner Bros. are partnering for a TV series set in the Lord of the Rings universe, it`s been revealed that longtime estate director Christopher Tolkien--the author`s son--has retired from his role.According to TheOneRing.net, the 93-year-old Tolkien teased his retirement in the recently released JRR Tolkien book, Beren and Luthien. In the book`s preface, he writes, `This is (preemptively) my last book in the long series of editions of my father`s writings.`As for what his retirement means for the works of Tolkien, it could be practically anything. The younger Tolkien was often incredibly reluctant in licensing out the rights to his father`s works. With new leadership over the estate, TheOneRing.net says a `rights frenzy` could now be underway, which would help explain the massive deal to create a series for Amazon Prime.While the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films by Peter Jackson were financially successful, there were reports that Christopher was not happy with how they turned out. It`s worth noting that the rights for those films were first licensed by Warner Bros. in the 1960s. Since then, the estate has kept a rather tight hold on Tolkien`s world of stories.Now, there`s no telling what will become of the Lord of the Rings. Clearly, Amazon is banking on its series being the next coming of Game of Thrones. Beyond that, though, anything is possible--including new video games, movies, and possibly even theme parks. After all, with Universal Studios success with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Disney`s The World of Avatar in Florida, a Lord of the Rings theme park experience seems like an easy decision to make.
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