The Estate of JRR Tolkien and Warner Bros Television are in talks with Amazon Studios to develop a series based on the author's "The Lord of the Rings" novels.

The studio and the Tolkien estate have been shopping a series based on the classic fantasy novels and their assortment of hobbits, wizards, and warriors, sparking a competitive situation from which Amazon has emerged as the frontrunner. No deal has been set, reported Deadline.

The fact that a "Lord of the Rings" series is being shopped by Warner Bros marks a thaw in the relationship between the studio and the Tolkien estate, which in July settled a massive lawsuit that had dragged on since 2012.

Launched at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival with "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy was a global phenomenon. Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and others, the three films combined to gross more than USD 2.9 billion worldwide. PTI SHD SHD