With the television adaptation of the Middle Earth epic ‘The Lord of The Rings’ resuming its production in New Zealand (Where else would it be?), here is what you need to know about the upcoming Amazon series.
Amazon acquired the television rights for ‘The Lord of The Rings’ for $250 million, with a plan of creating 5 seasons worth at least $1 billion, way back in November 2017. This would make the upcoming web series, the most expensive television show to be ever produced, beating another fantasy global television phenomenon ‘Game Of Thrones’.
Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ and Netflix’s ‘Cowboy Beebop’ & ‘Sweet Tooth’ are three shows which were granted border exemptions by the New Zealand government to resume shoots in the country. The West Auckland-based set of the ‘The Lord Of the Rings’ was close to finishing the first two episodes (directed by J.A. Bayona), when production shut down in mid-March amid the rising global pandemic. With the first season reported to have 20 episodes, we are expecting at least another couple of months of work left, hopefully without any more delays.
The series will be set during the Second Age of the Middle Earth. The Second Age spans 3441 years and ends with the first downfall of Sauron. Peter Jackson’s Academy Award winning trilogy took place during the Middle Earth’s Third Age, while featuring and explaining Sauron’s first downfall. So the new web series will act as a prequel to the film series and there will be little chance to see previous characters, except maybe Lady Galadriel and Elrond. We will mainly see Sauron and witness how he rose to power.
Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, who is working with Amazon on the series, said that much of the main (historical) structure of the Second Age will remain intact and be as similar to the books as possible. The primary setting of the show, or at least the first season will be the lost island of Numenor, which has created a quiet buzz among hard-core fans. Shippey also adds that Amazon can add as many new characters as they want as long but the only downside is they have to stick to the Second Age only. The First Age and Third Age are off-limits.
Amazon has already ordered for the second season of the series in November last year. After watching the footage of the first two episodes, the show runners have decided to film the first two series back-to-back just like Peter Jackson did with his first two films in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ film series. The series is set to cast fresh faces with Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman and Maxim Baldry.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
