There's been a lot of guesswork rather than hard news about Amazon's massive Lord of the Rings TV series, so it's good to get something concrete. At the Television Critics Association event Amazon announced Star Trek 4 writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay as the show's screenwriters.
Amazon's Jennifer Salke made the announcement of the Star Trek and Jungle Cruise duo's hiring...
“We have closed a deal with a writing team, Payne and McKay who come out of the world of Star Trek. It was a very thoughtful process. It’s such a vast world, there are so many different ways to go with that property. Thanks for Sharon Tal Yguado on my team she led the charge bringing in people. We had an abundance of enthusiasm in the creator/ writer arena and a lot of time spent talking about different takes. The next phase is a big development process as they build out this world.”
Remember, this series will be a prequel taking place before Frodo and his Fellowship went on their first journey. What exactly that means is anybody's guess because the mythology created by JRR Tolkien is so vast. I'm not sure Amazon is completely aware of what it will be, because they've described it as neither a remake or an original piece. Thankfully it doesn't appear to be centered on a young Aragorn as some rumors have suggested.
As for any involvement by Peter Jackson? No movement on that front, either.
