Sean Astin says 'Lord of the Rings' series is 'intriguing idea'

Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Sean Astin says the idea of a Lord of the Rings television series is "intriguing."

The 46-year-old actor, who played Samwise Gamgee in the Peter Jackson-directed Lord of the Rings movies, responded in an interview with EW Radio to reports of a possible TV adaptation at Amazon.

"I saw that the other day, and I thought that was intriguing," Astin said. "I've been saying for 15 years that maybe like 12 years after Lord of the Rings came out, that it would get remade."

"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. It's a massive story! The characters are so beloved,'" he explained.

Astin, who most recently appeared in Season 2 of the Netflix show Stranger Things, said a series adaptation would face challenges, including the studio's desires versus the director's vision.

"I think it's an intriguing idea [but] the devil's in the details. How would they do it? How? Who?" Astin mused.

"One of the great things about Netflix with Stranger Things is I'm sure [the studio was] giving [the Duffer brothers] script notes, but I never saw 'em," he said. "The Duffers got to make their movie. And the same was true with New Line and Peter Jackson and the Lord of the Rings trilogy."

"There were times they asserted themselves, but in a core way, Peter was making Peter's movie," the star added. "So I don't know. The challenge would be, could they find some team to do it that they could let to their thing, or are they going to squat on it?"

Variety reported last week that Warner Bros. Television and the estate of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien are in talks with Amazon Studios about a TV series. Sources said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is personally involved with the negotiations.