After the infamous ending of Game of Thrones, people were wondering what to watch next that could give them the same vibe. On November 2017, Amazon announced that they bought the rights to J.R.R Tolkien’s source material for $250m, and that they were making a Lord of the Rings prequel series. Production of the first season kicked off in February 2020, but it was stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When Will Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings Premier?
On August 2, 2021, Amazon announced that filming of the series, which took place in New Zealand, had just wrapped up. The first episode of Season 1 will premiere on Friday, September 2, 2022, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. The company also shared the first picture of the series. This yet-to-be-titled series will release episodes weekly. Which is quite understandable based on the fact that the first season of Lord of the Rings cost $456m and broke the record for the most expensive TV series of all time.
What is the Story of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings Anyway?
Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series is a prequel to the beloved films and novels by J.R.R Tolkien. This epic drama is set in the Second Age of Middle-Earth, which takes place thousands of years before the main events of The Lord of the Rings books and films. The Second Age of Middle-Earth is 3500 years long. This era starts with the defeat of Melkor AKA Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, and ends with the War of the Last Alliance, which we see a little of in Peter Jackson’s Trilogy. As an aftermath of the War of the Last Alliance, the Second Age ends and the Third Era begins. This is when the main events of The Lord of Rings books and movies take place.
Many things happened in The Second Age, which makes it hard to wait for this 5-season series. One of the major events in The Second Age is the creation of the Rings. We also have the rise and fall of the Numenor Empire and enormous battles which lead to the genocide of the human race. We don’t know yet how these events will be depicted on screen. The most reasonable theory is that young Aragorn is reading about the history of the Second Age, and we see the events as he reads them. Apart from that, we might see some familiar faces like Galadriel or Elrond.
Who are the cast and crew?
Patrick McKay and John D. Payne are the showrunners of The Lord of the Rings series. McKay and Payne haven’t done much prior work and this series is their first big project. Previously they had worked on Star Trek Beyond (2016) as co-writers.
Lindsey Weber (Producer of 10 Cloverfield Lane), Callum Greene (Producers of Crimson Peak and Pacific Rim), Belén Atienza and J. A. Bayoan (Producers of The Impossible), Justin Doble (Producer of Stranger Things series), Jason Cahil (Co-writer of The Sopranos and Fringe series), Bruce Richmond (Producer of From the Earth to the Moon series), Gennifer Hutchison (Co-writers of Breaking and Better Call Saul series) and Sharon Tal Yguado (Producer of Outcast series) are the executive producers of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings.
J. A. Bayona will direct the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings series in addition to being an executive producer. J. A. Bayona is famously known for directing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the Spanish Film El Orfanato (The Orphanage). Wayne Yip will direct another 4 episodes of the series. Yip previously worked on a bunch of well-known shows such as Doom Patrol, Doctor Who, Preacher, and Utopia as director.
Robert Armyao, who is mostly known for the Mindhunter series, Game of Thrones and Nocturnal Animals will play the role of Beldor. Joseph Mawle who played the role of Uncle Benjen in Game of Thrones will take the role of Oren. Morfydd Clark will play the role of Galadriel and Simon Merrells the role of Trevyn.
Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Cordova and Ema Horvath will also be a part of the series.
Waiting for this epic drama is getting harder each day. Apart from Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series, Deadalic Entertainment GmbH are working on The Lord of the Rings: Gollum video game that will also be released in 2022. I strongly recommend, until the premiere of The Lord of the Rings series, that you read the masterpieces of J.R.R Tolkien. Watch Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy alongside The Hobbits and, if you are a gamer, give Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor and Middle-Earth Shadow of War a shot.
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