Lord of the Rings Amazon prequel series: Everything you need to know
Journey back to Middle-earth with the upcoming jillion-dollar streaming show. Here's all the latest news on the cast, plot and release date.
A sprawling, insanely pricey fantasy TV series based on a fictional universe that was introduced in a series of incredibly popular and famously long and complex books? And books, at that, by an author with a double-R middle initial? No, it's not George R.R. Martin's
. Instead, it's a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings saga, soon to become an
original series.
Don't expect a retread of familiar territory.
isn't going to remake the LOTR series that was last seen as several acclaimed Peter Jackson-directed movies. Though this series, like the film saga, will be set in Tolkien's Middle-earth,
the original storylines will come from a time period preceding
.
And the series cost a lot of silver coin, or whatever the monetary unit is in pre-LOTR Middle-earth. Back in 2017 when news of the show broke,
that Amazon reportedly paid close to $250 million for the rights, making it the most expensive TV series ever. That doesn't, of course, include the money it'll cost to hire the actors and crew and actually make the sure-to-be-pricey show. The
that the whole shebang could cost more than $1 billion.
The latest news
Back to Middle-earth
t's no surprise, but in September 2019, Amazon Studios announced that the show will shoot in New Zealand. Pre-production has started, the company said, and production on the series soon will begin in Auckland.
"As we searched for the location in which we could bring to life the primordial beauty of the Second Age of Middle-earth, we knew we needed to find somewhere majestic, with pristine coasts, forests, and mountains, that also is a home to world-class sets, studios, and highly skilled and experienced craftspeople and other staff," showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said in a statement. "And we're happy that we are now able to officially confirm New Zealand as our home for our series based on stories from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings."
Casting rumors
In early September 2019,
that Will Poulter (Colin in Black Mirror's Bandersnatch, Mark in Midsommer) will star in the series. That same report said that Australian actress Markella Kavenagh will also play a role. Amazon Studios wouldn't confirm or comment on this report when contacted by CNET.
Endless episodes
My German is limited, but
in early August that Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, who's
as working on the show, had revealed some series details to a
. Maybe the most interesting tidbit? Shippey says season one of the series will have 20 episodes -- and that's a lot, considering HBO's Game of Thrones had half that in its first season.
From Isla Nublar to Middle-earth?
On July 3,
, who directed 2018's
, is directing the first two episodes of the Lord of the Rings show.
"I can't wait to take audiences around the world to Middle-earth and have them discover the wonders of the Second Age, with a never-before-seen story," Bayona said in a statement.
The basics: What and when?
WHAT... Amazon bought the global TV rights to Tolkien's (
) Lord of the Rings saga, though what exactly the company will do with those rights could evolve. Right now plans are for a multiseason series set in that pre-Fellowship time period called The Second Age.
But there may be more than one show: Amazon's initial press release noted that the deal includes a potential additional spin-off series. Our guess is we'll have to see how the first show does before going there.
WHEN... And that first show will be around for a while: The
Amazon to commit to five seasons, as well as begin production within two years. Since the deal was announced in November 2017, expect to hear some news on the series before November 2019.
In a
, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said the company hopes to air the show sometime in 2021.
How to watch
As you almost certainly know, Amazon has moved well beyond an online bookstore (those were the days...), and has an entertainment arm of its own. Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that not only licenses content but also makes its own. Amazon Studios has produced such original series as The Man in the High Castle and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as well as movies.
You need an
to access the content, but once you have one, you get unlimited streaming via
, which is now available in more than 200 countries.
Who's involved?
No cast members have been announced as of May 2019, but
, Amazon announced that
screenwriters
will develop the show. "We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care -- it is the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime," Payne and McKay said in a statement.
...
