After a quiet week last week, things amp up significantly this week with the long, long awaited unveiling of Prime Video's new take on Lord of the Rings, The Rings of Power.
With a budget of over $700 million for the show's first season and a second season already locked in, Amazon will be hoping for a huge opening weekend as the series took its bow last night (September 1) with two episodes now live on Prime Video.
Elsewhere, there's a corking new comedy from Peacock, two new dramas from Netflix and a couple of high-profile new documentaries from Showtime and Discovery+, for what looks like a very good weekend for new releases.
Below, we’ve rounded up seven of the biggest new movies and TV shows available to watch on streaming services this weekend.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video)
A giant new entry and the only place to start this week, with the debut of the most expensive show in history.
The Rings of Power is set during Middle-earth’s Second Age and will chart the forging of the titular Rings of Power as well as the origins to great villain Sauron’s attempt to cover the world in darkness and how Middle-earth’s races band together to thwart his plans.
The show features an ensemble cast, with the likes of Morfydd Clark, Benjamin Walker, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo and Lenny Henry key among them.
There's loads to read on TechRadar about the show, including a full review and details on the show's rollout. TechRadar's Tom Power loved it and he's sure you will too. Given the cost, Amazon will be hoping so too.
The first two episodes of Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power are available to stream on Prime Video now. The rest of the series will be released on a weekly basis throughout September and October.
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (Peacock)
Sterling K. Brown and Regina Hall star in this new mockumentary, which sees hotly-tipped director Adamma Ebo take her 2018 short movie and expand it into a full-length effort.
Hall plays Trinitie Childs, who has established a successful and very lucrative megachurch alongside her husband, Brown's Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs. But, after a scandal, their church, which once had a congregation in the tens of thousands, was forced to close. Now on the comeback trail, the pair enlist a film crew to chronicle their re-entry.
With Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya among the producers, the movie was a hit at Sundance and was sold for a cool $8.5 million after receiving rave reviews. Expect big laughs and big setpieces.
Available to stream now on Peacock.
Devil in Ohio (Netflix)
Emily Deschanel, best known for her long-running spell on much-loved procedural Bones, stars in this chilling new series, which is adapted from Daria Polatin’s best-selling book, a book inspired by true events.
Deschanel plays psychiatrist Suzanne Mathis, who decides to bring home Madeline Arthur's Mae home while she awaits a foster family being found. Mae Dodd has escaped from a dangerous cult in a nearby town, and, at first, seems grateful for a place to stay. Soon though, she develops a strange obsession with Suzanne's daughter Jules and begins to tear her family apart, all the while, the Dodd family are still searching for her.
As you can see from the trailer, this has got real Stephen King-vibes, but if horror and jump scares are your bag (and we know there are an awful lot of you), then this eight-part mini-series will do very nicely.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
Fakes (Netflix)
After striking gold with Inventing Anna, Netflix offers up another instalment of teenage criminality with Fakes.
Set over 10 half-hour instalments, Fakes stars Emilija Baranac and Jennifer Tong as two best friends who begin making fake I.D cards, first for themselves, then for their friends, and then for anyone who is willing to pay for them, accidentally creating an empire in the process.
Overseen by Warrior Nun's David Turko, this is a fizzy, young-adult funfest, one aimed squarely at the same crowd won over by Inventing Anna.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
House Of Hammer (Discovery+)
Discovery's new documentary series, which launches this weekend, will explore the alleged crimes that have been carried out by the wealthy family of Hollywood actor Armie Hammer, including those done by the actor himself.
As well as investigative reporting, testimony from Hammer's victims, the series also features an extensive interview with Hammer's aunt, Casey Hammer, who makes claims of intergenerational abuse within the family.
A harrowing watch no doubt, but one with plenty of ground to cover.
Now available to stream on Discovery+.
McEnroe (Showtime)
The life and times of fiery and hugely successful tennis player John McEnroe are chronicled in lavish detail in this new documentary.
Director Barney Douglas goes in deep on what made McEnroe the player he was and how he fought to secure 149 career titles, with contributions from the star's wife, children and Billie Jean King, Keith Richards and his great rival Bjorn Borg among the talking heads.
Now available to stream on Showtime.
You're Nothing Special (Netflix)
We finish this week with a Spanish teen-drama with a supernatural twist.
The show follows Dèlia Brufau's Amaia, who is dragged kicking and screaming from her life in Barcelona to the tiny rural town where her mother grew up.
Once there, Amaia's life is turned upside down when she discovers that not only was her grandmother a witch, but that she has inherited her powers. The question is, how will she use them?
Fans of classic teen movies like The Craft and Hocus Pocus should find plenty to enjoy here.
Now available to stream on Netflix.
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