Elijah Wood reacts to many calling Amazon's upcoming Middle-earth show The Lord of the Rings. Wood starred as Frodo Baggins, the protagonist of the beloved trilogy adaptation. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy adventure novels, all three movies were directed by Peter Jackson and released in 2001, '02 and '03. The movies' events take place in the Third Age of the fictional world of Middle-earth, which follows the defeat of the villain Sauron and his loss of the One Ring at the end of the Second Age.
Though the movies are twenty years old at this point, The Lord of the Rings remains immensely popular. It's why few were surprised when Amazon announced a TV series, which will be set during the Second Age. At this time, Amazon hasn't officially confirmed The Lord of the Rings show's title; even an official synopsis released last month refers to it as "Amazon Studios' forthcoming series." However, many have taken to calling it The Lord of the Rings in the absence of a full title.
In an interview with Empire Magazine (via Fandom), Wood makes it clear he disagrees with this, citing the time period the Lord of the Rings Amazon series is set in:
I find it very bizarre that they're calling it Lord of the Rings as a shorthand, because it's not Lord of the Rings! It takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth.
This isn't the first time Wood has voiced his opposition to some calling the Amazon show The Lord of the Rings. In an interview last summer, he called it "misleading," again mentioning the series is set in the Second Age and not the Third Age, when the events of the novels and movies occur. However, it makes sense to refer to the show that way for a few reasons. First, everybody in the world knows the name The Lord of the Rings, so even if Amazon doesn't end up using it officially in the show's title, promoting it as a LOTR series will guarantee people know generally what it's about even if they're not fans of the books and movies; in fact, that name recognition is probably why Amazon spent a whopping $250 million to buy the rights to the franchise in the first place.
Second, even though Wood's correct about the show taking place in the Second Age, it's unlikely anyone besides those extremely passionate about the series will be miffed about that particular technicality if the series uses Lord of the Rings in the title. Third, the actual Lord of the Rings is Sauron, who forged the One Ring during the Second Age and per the official synopsis, could potentially appear in the series, meaning the use of The Lord of the Rings in the title would in this case technically be correct. There's also a possibility the series will be called something else entirely, such as Tales From Middle-earth, or use a similar strategy to how Star Wars has branded its movies, like Lord of the Rings: Second Age Saga. Hopefully, once an official title is finally revealed, Wood will be less disappointed by how some are referring to the Amazon series.
Source: Empire Magazine (via Fandom)