Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power co-showrunner addresses elephant in the room – Peter Jackson’s trilogy

The co-showrunner of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has revealed what he believes to be secret to the new show’s success.

Patrick McKay, who oversees the Prime Video series alongside JD Payne, has reflected on the way the pair tackled the JRR Tolkien adaptation in a new interview.

First up, he describes the team they assembled for the show as “admirers from afar” who are aware of “how wonderfully right [Peter] Jackson got so much of it” in his Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

“Anyone approaching Lord of the Rings on screen would be wrong not to think about [that],” McKay told Empire Magazine, adding: “The Rings Of Power doesn’t try to compete with him.”

McKay also batted off comparisons to Tolkien and the world of Game of Thrones, which was created by George RR Martin.

“Some of these other competing properties – they play one octave really beautifully, but Tolkien was playing every note on the piano,” he continued. “Tokien had that variety of tones. There’s the whimsy, friendship and humour that Harry Potter is so beloved for – but there’s sophistication, politics, history, mythology and depth, too.

“So for us, it was about going deeper into what we are, rather than worrying about what other folks are doing.”

Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon will be released on 26 August, weeks before The Rings of Power.

Last month, die-hard Lord of the Rings fans shared their verdict on the new series after being treated to a special preview.

Prime Video invited Tolkien enthusiasts to attend a screening of the forthcoming show, which will run for eight episodes when it arrives on 2 September.

The new series, which is set thousands of years before Paeter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, has been in the works since 2017. Prime Video bought rights to the show for $250m (£183m).

The Rings of Power will star Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Joseph Mawle, Lenny Henry and Peter Mullan.