What we know so far

After six hugely successful and award-winning films by Peter Jackson, viewers have the chance to return to Middle-earth in the upcoming The Lord of the Rings series on Amazon Prime Video.

The Lord of the Rings franchise is still a long way off, but we’ve always learned more about what to expect when it comes out next year.

So read on to find out everything you need to know about The Lord of the Rings on Amazon Prime Video. And if you don’t already have Amazon Prime Video, you can click the button below to sign up.

The as yet untitled The Lord of the Rings series takes place in the legendary second age in the history of Middle-earth. That means it is set thousands of years before the events of JRR Tolkien’s better-known novels, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

According to Amazon, the series will “transport viewers back to an era where great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to fame and decay, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest threads, and the greatest villain ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen the whole world threatened to be enveloped in darkness. “

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As with previous outings, a number of characters (some familiar ones) will work together to tackle a growing evil. Story locations are the Fog Mountains, the elven capital Lindon and the island kingdom of Númenor.

While filming for season one concluded earlier this month in New Zealand, Amazon has otherwise revealed very little about the series’ plot or characters.

When and where can you see it?

The first episode will air on September 2, 2022, in a little over a year.

We can probably expect a weekly episode rollout, in line with other Amazon Originals, but Amazon could opt for a different route in the meantime.

Not a word about when future seasons will start.

Who is involved

JD Payne and Patrick McKay are both showrunners and executive producers. The election of Payne and McKay turned some heads. Prior to The Lord of the Rings series, the two have virtually no known movie or television credits.

On their IMDB pages, the two screenwriters are listed as uncredited writers on JJ Abrams’ Star Trek Beyond. But otherwise there is literally nothing. Abrams was reportedly one of several high-profile figures in the industry who recommended the duo for the job.

Co-producer Helen Shang assists Payne and McKay with the writing. It is directed by executive producer JA Bayona, co-executive producer Wayne Che Yip and Charlotte Brändström.

The Lord of the Rings cast is huge, though Amazon has been stingy on character names. Robert Aramayo plays a young hero named Beldor. Morfydd Clark plays a young Galadriel. And Simon Merrells plays a character called “Trevyn”.

Confirmed actors include:

• Robert Aramayo
• Owain Arthur
• Nazanin Boniadi
• Morfydd Clark
• Ismael Cruz Cordova
• Ema Horvath
• Markella Kavenagh
• Joseph Mawle
• Tyroe Muhafidin
• Sophia Nomvete
• Megan Richards
• Dylan Smith
• Charlie Vickers
• Daniel Weyman
• Cynthia Addai-Robinson
• Maxim Baldry
• Ian Blackburn
• Kip Chapman
• Anthony Crum
• Maxine Cunliffe
• Trystan Gravelle
• Lenny Henry
• Thusitha Jayasundera
• Fabian McCallum
• Simon Merrells
• Geoff Morrell
• Peter Mullan
• Lloyd Owen
• Augustus Prew
• Peter Tait
• Alex Tarrant
• Leon Wadham
• Benjamin Walker
• Sara Zwangobani
• Charles Edwards
• Will Fletcher
• Amelie Child-Villiers
• Beau Cassidy

Will there be more seasons?

Five seasons of The Lord of the Rings series are currently planned. Overall, the series is estimated to cost an estimated $ 1 billion to become the most expensive series ever produced.

Amazon has already officially ordered a second season. Season two will move production from New Zealand to the UK

Amazon Studios is looking to expand its productions in the UK, so it makes sense to place its main tentpole series there. Still, it’s an odd, and undoubtedly, costly move, despite the fact that it’s likely one of long-term financial benefit.

Amazon has not yet set a date for the start of production for the second season or for it to be released on its streaming site.

Is this part of the same series as the existing films?

It looks like the Lord of the Rings franchise will be more of a prequel to Tolkien’s novels than to Peter Jackson’s films.

This makes sense as Jackson doesn’t appear to be involved in any way. However, it is not 100% clear what deals Amazon may have made or are ready to join this series with the existing films.

If they were linked, it seems like a safe bet that Amazon would have mentioned so much by now. The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films were huge and made real money. This existing brand is probably why Amazon is pumping so much money into the new show. So we can’t make promises, but don’t expect Elijah Wood or Ian McKellen to show up.

With season one filmed in New Zealand and an early series picture looking mightily familiar, connecting the dots probably won’t be hard when viewers watch The Lord of the Rings series not only as a prequel to the books but also to the established one Movie franchise. It all happened thousands of years earlier. It may not be canon, but you do.

What to Expect from the Lord of the Rings franchise

The Lord of the Rings series was touted as the most expensive television series ever, so there is a lot to do.

In 2017, Amazon won a bidding war against Netflix for TV rights to The Lord of the Rings. It cost the company $ 250 million, which would have already made it an incredibly expensive show. In addition, the budget for the first season was set at $ 465 million. That’s over $ 58 million per episode.

(The budget per episode for the final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones was $ 15 million if you’re comparing it.)

With that much money, the show is better than good!

Despite various rumors in the years since the announcement, we have very little to do. The series is not, as previously assumed, about a young Aragorn. Patton Oswalt will not pronounce a young gollum. It will not be a remake of Peter Jackson’s trilogy. And it will not be a prequel to existing films, but a new interpretation of Tolkien’s work.

We know who is in it and that it will probably be eye-catching like its predecessors.

That’s all we know about The Lord of the Rings series on Amazon, and some things we’d like to find out.