Filming for season one of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings television series wrapped up in New Zealand on Monday, August 2, 2021. According to Deadline, the new episodes will be released weekly on Amazon Prime, with the official premiere date being Friday, September 2, 2022. Over 240 territories and countries worldwide will have the opportunity to access this highly-anticipated show.
The official name of this series is still untitled. Collider reports the series will bring the history of Middle-earth’s Second Age to screens for the very first time. The events depicted in the series take place thousands of years before those that occurred in J.R.R. Tolkien’s original Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit book. The story begins in a “time of relative peace,” and a cast of both new and familiar characters must combat the “long-feared reemergence of evil to Middle-earth.”
Amazon Studios released the very first image from the series as well, which you can see below. Not surprisingly, the identity of the character/actor featured in the photo is under wraps for now. Collider states the location seems to be “Valmar on the continent of Amar, where the Valar reside.” The article adds that Valmar is similar to our idea of Heaven, where those who created and ruled over the world resided. Valmar is also where characters like Gandalf, Saruman, and Sauron came from.
The showrunners for the series are J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Both will executive produce alongside Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, according to Deadline. Wayne Che Yip is the co-executive producer, while Charlotte Brändström will direct and Christopher Newman will serve as producer.
The cast includes the following stars: Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.
In a joint statement, Payne and McKay expressed, “As Bilbo says, ‘Now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey.’ Living and breathing Middle-earth these many months has been the adventure of a lifetime. We cannot wait for fans to have the chance to do so as well.”
Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, stated, “I can’t express enough just how excited we all are to take our global audience on a new and epic journey through Middle-earth. Our talented producers, cast, creative and production teams have worked tirelessly in New Zealand to bring this untold and awe-inspiring vision to life.”
Let us know if you’re excited for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings television series in the comments below!