When the $250 million deal to procure the lucrative, venerable and blockbuster movie franchise-spawning Tolkien property was on the bidding table, Richard Plepler, CEO of premium cable giant HBO, revealed that there wasn’t any interested in adding it to the network’s impressive lineup of original programming. As Plepler stated (via Variety) at the Business Insider’s Ignition 2017 media conference on Wednesday: One would think that with its global serial centerpiece in the quasi-medieval Game of Thrones rounding what will be its eight and final season, that a Tolkien-adapted series is the perfect genre-matching occupant for that imminent vacancy. However, Plepler clearly believes that such a series would have become a white elephant… err, oliphant.
