Jeff Bezos says his son told him ‘not to eff up’ Rings of Power series with Amazon
Billionaire businessman also admitted some of his creative suggestions to showrunners were ‘ignored’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has revealed his son warned him not to “eff up” the Lord of the Rings prequel series The Rings of Power.
Speaking at the UK premiere of the Amazon Prime Video series – at the Odeon Luxe cinema in Leicester Square, London – Bezos talked about how his children are also big fans of the fantasy world created by author JRR Tolkien.
“In fact one of my boys, I think, approaches the level of a Tolkien scholar he knows so much about this universe,” Bezos said in a rare speech. “And after Amazon got involved in this project, my son came up to me one day, he looked me in the eyes, very sincerely, and he said: ‘Dad, please don’t eff this up.’ And he was right.
“We know that this world is important to so many people, we know it’s a privilege to work inside this world and we know it’s a big responsibility.”
Bezos and his ex-wife, novelist MacKenzie Scott, share four children – three sons and one daughter.
Billionaire businessman Bezos also thanked the showrunners, Patrick McKay and John D Payne, for limiting his creative input.
“Every showrunner’s dream – and I mean every showrunner – their dream is to get notes on scripts and early cuts from the founder and executive chairman,” he quipped while introducing the first two episodes.
“They loved that. I need to thank you both for listening whenever it helped but mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.”
His comments come after Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson said that Amazon never sent him scripts for The Rings of Power– despite telling him they would.
Also present on the red carpet at the London premiere were lead members of the cast including Sir Lenny Henry and Morfydd Clark.
The first two episodes of The Rings of Power arrive on Amazon Prime Video on 2 September, with the new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments