'The Lord Of The Rings' has been a hugely popular story ever since J.R.R. Tolkien's novel series hit shelves. Despite being written between the 1930s-40s, the fantasy tale is one that has captured the imagination and hearts of people across the globe, and when Peter Jackson's film trilogy hit the big screen, it made some huge waves. Now, Amazon are hoping to milk the cash cow for themselves, after buying the rights to the series.

Elijah Wood played Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogyElijah Wood played Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy

Instead of bringing a whole new selection of films to fans, Amazon have decided to go down the television route. It's the first time the story will be adapted for the small screen, so expectations are huge. Fortunately, the company are one of the leading entertainment businesses in the industry, so if anybody's able to pull it off, it'll be them.

Having seen success with other Amazon original shows, such as 'The Man in the High Castle' and 'Sneaky Pete', they've got good form. But will things really work out here?

Reuters are this week reporting that Amazon have allowed a budget of $500 million for the proposed first two seasons of the 'Lord of the Rings' television show, which sees the company splashing out $750 million in total on the series so far when you factor in the $250 million they paid for the rights to the 'LOTR' property. In short, this is a show that had better work for the company.

Fantasy shows have never been more popular, with 'Game of Thrones' (based on the incomplete novel series 'A Song of Ice & Fire by George R. R. Martin) proving to be a massive success for HBO, so all signs are pointing towards this working out. Whether or not they'll be able to ride the wave and pull in the viewers however remains to be seen. Let's hope it's not a wave that crashes before they manage to get their show up and running.

More: Ian McKellen Doesn't Want A New Gandalf For Amazon's 'Lord Of The Rings' TV Series

We'll bring you more news on Amazon's 'Lord of the Rings' television series as and when we get it.