Finally, over four years since Amazon acquired the television rights to J.R.R. Tolkien's iconic fantasy book series, the studio's Lord of the Rings TV show has an official title.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is an upcoming Prime Video series, set during Middle Earth's Second Age, which will chart the rise (and subsequent) fall of Sauron as he looks to assume dominion over the fictional world's many races. It'll come as no surprise for you to learn, then, that Amazon Prime Video's TV adaptation of Tolkien's legendary works is a prequel to the late author's Lord of the Rings trilogy, which took place during Middle Earth's Third Age.
With The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power set to premiere exclusively on Prime Video in September 2022, it's about time that we found out about its official title. Now that we're only eight months out from release, we should hear more official details about its plot, which characters will be portrayed by the show's 39-strong cast and more.
As we await more news on that front, though, there are elements of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power that we're already aware of. Below, we've compiled every piece of information that we could find about Amazon's Lord of the Rings, including its official launch date, tie-ins to the novels and movies, and any released trailers. Based on the below, it sounds like it should be worth the Prime Video subscription fee alone, anyway.
Potential spoilers follow for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. If you don't want to know a single thing about the show before it airs, turn back now.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power release date
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power release date: September 2022
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be released on Prime Video until September 2, 2022. It's disappointing that we won't see it sooner but, given how protracted its development has been, it's pleasing to know that we'll see it at all.
The show's launch date was revealed on its official Twitter account in August 2021, which also provided us with a first-look image:
On September 2, 2022, a new journey begins. pic.twitter.com/9tnR7WqDoAAugust 2, 2021
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's episodes will be released weekly, too, so don't expect to be able to binge watch it over a single weekend.
Meanwhile, season 2, which has already been greenlit by Amazon Studios, won't be returning to New Zealand for principal photography. Instead, it'll be filmed in the UK.
Per Variety, Amazon Studios TV co-head Albert Cheng revealed that principal photography would begin on British shores in the first half of 2022. Variety has since reported that Bray Film Studios and Bovingdon Airfield, in Berkshire and Hertfordshire respectively, will initially be used for shooting season 2. Filming is expected to begin in the second half of 2022.
Additionally, it sounds like Lord of the Rings season 1's September 2022 release will impact The Wheel of Time season 2's arrival. Speaking to TVLine, Amazon Studios' Head of Global TV Vernon Sanders said: “We are going to be really thoughtful about how we release these shows. In our minds, they are very different shows, but we are cognizant of our genre fans, and we are excited about the collection of content we have.”
Don't expect Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time to vie for viewers' attention later this year (or in 2023), then.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast: who is playing who?
A series of this scale needs a huge cast, and Amazon's Lord of the Rings ensemble is absolutely stacked. There are 39 main actors, according to the official casting page and, while we largely don't have confirmation on who is portraying who, we have some ideas based on various inside sources.
According to Variety, Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud) has been cast as young Galadriel. Lord of the Rings fans will know that the powerful elf was played by Cate Blanchett in the film trilogy. As this series is set during the Second Age, though, Galadriel will be younger than her movie counterpart. It's believed that Clark is the individual who can be heard talking in The Rings of Power's title reveal video, which you can view below.
Another role that we're fairly certain of is Simon Merrells. According to the actor's biography page on the Warring and McKenna management agency website, Merrells (Good Omens) will be playing an original character called Trevyn.
Lenny Henry (Doctor Who, Broadchurch) has confirmed that he's playing a Harfoot – one of three breeds of hobbits in Lord of the Rings – in a BBC Sounds interview, but didn't reveal his character's name.
There are also rumors surrounding the identities of other actors' roles.
Robert Aramayo, who played a young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, is believed to have replaced Will Poulter as Beldor, one of the TV show's main heroes (per Deadline). Speaking to GQ, Poulter explained that he had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, adding: “As an actor, you’re very used to things not going your way and having to adapt accordingly. I’m more used to things not going my way. So I just had to shake that one off.”
The Hollywood Reporter has claimed that Markella Kavenagh (The Cry) is playing a character called Tyra, while Deadline has suggested that Lloyd Owen (Monarch of the Glen) portrays someone known as Loda.
Joseph Mawle, who played Benjen Stark in Game of Thrones, is also thought to have been cast as series antagonist Adar (h/t Deadline). However, it's unclear if this character has ties to Sauron – more on him later – or if he'll be a supporting villain.
Speaking of Sauron, we'd be amazed if the Dark Lord doesn't appear in The Rings of Power, what with the show likely to recount events surrounding the forging of the rings. We aren't sure, however, who will be playing (or voicing) Sauron yet. It could be Mawle if Adar is an alias of Sauron's, but the Dark Lord doesn't use this pseudonym in Tolkien's novels.
Thrilled to welcome them to the @LOTRonPrime family! https://t.co/Medxxvz07NJuly 1, 2021
As for Kip Chapman's character, the Fellowship of Fans Twitter fan account alleges that the Westside actor is portraying someone called Selin. Meanwhile, A Discovery of Witches' Trystan Gravelle has given us a hint at his character's potential look for the show, but we're not sure who this is yet.
The Fellowship of Fans Twitter account also claims that Owain Arthur will play an “important Dwarven character“. They've since suggested that Arthur is playing King Durin, but haven't disclosed which King Durin will appear. It might be Durin III, as he's alive during the Second Age, but we'll have for official confirmation on this front:
EXCLUSIVE: Owain Arthur (who we previously reported as being a major dwarf) is now revealed to be playing “Durin” in #LOTRonPrimeHowever, which Durin he is playing is currently unknown. He is said to have “gold feet” and the Dwarf throne is said to be “massive”.1/6 pic.twitter.com/wrHzqK1f9ENovember 21, 2021
The Fellowship of Fans has also claimed that Ema Horvath (Don't Look Deeper) will portray Isildur's sister, aka Carine, an original character for Amazon's Lord of the Rings. If nothing else, that heavily implies that someone will play Isildur in the TV series, although we're not sure who that'll be yet.
EXCLUSIVE: Ema Horvath is playing “Carine”, Isildur’s sister, which is an Amazon original character in the upcoming ‘The Lord of the Rings’ TV Show(1/7) pic.twitter.com/L51xiR6mayJanuary 2, 2022
There are other key Second Age players, including elven High King Gil-galad, elven smith Celebrimbor (who Tom Budge was allegedly playing before his departure from the show), and Númenorian King Elendil, who haven't had their castings revealed yet. Hopefully, we'll get official confirmation on which actors will portray them soon.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer: is there one?
Not an official one, but a trailer – released on January 19 – revealed the TV show's official title.
Interestingly, the video wasn't a CGI creation. As reported by IGN, the entire sequence was practically crafted and shot, with a small team creating and then filming the sequence – using a Phantom Flex 4K camera – to capture every fantastical moment.
Hopefully, it won't be too much longer before we get an official teaser for the prequel series.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plot
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power plot: what's it about?
In January 2021, TheOneRing.net revealed Amazon Studios' official synopsis for the series:
Our servers haven't crashed & burned like this since 2003, so here's the official show synopsis for Amazon's LORD OF THE RINGS series. 📺 #LOTRonPrime pic.twitter.com/O9k0Q8VkuzJanuary 13, 2021
The synopsis doesn't give much away, but it's enough to go on for now.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be set during Middle-Earth's Second Age, which lasted for nearly 3,500 years and ended with Sauron's defeat thanks to the alliance between men and elves.
This is the battle that opened Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, so it's possible that we may see this adapted again at some point in Amazon's series. And, given how central Sauron is set to be to the studio's TV adaptation, we're confident that it'll be featured in the final episode or two of the entire series, whenever that may be.
However, that's a long way off currently. There's plenty of Middle-Earth history that The Rings of Power may cover, and we're hopeful that we'll be seeing live-action debuts for new areas of Tolkien's world in the TV show, such as Númenor and Lindon.
It sounds like we'll be seeing one of those locations on screen, too. According to the The Fellowship of Fans Twitter account, Númenorian guilds (weapons dealers, food traders and more) have comprised one of the show's sets. In a separate Twitter thread, the same fan group also claimed that we'll see some Dwarven locations, particularly in the first two episodes. Given that King Durin is rumored to appear, this won't be a major surprise.
Interestingly, Lenny Henry also told BBC Sounds that another of Tolkien's books – The Silmarillion – may be adapted in some part for Amazon's Lord of the Rings.
“It’s a brand new set of adventures that seed some of the origins of different characters and it’s going to take at least ten years to tell the story,” Henry says. “Because it’s based on “The Silmarillion” which was almost like a cheat-sheet for what happens next in this world in the Second and Third Ages.”
Could we see characters or plot elements from this book used in the show? Given that The Silmarillion covers aspects of the Second and Third Ages, it's entirely possible. While we wait for more news on the story front, though, we've also seen a map of what Middle-Earth looked like during the Second Age:
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. #LOTRonPrime pic.twitter.com/7TuQh7gRPDMarch 7, 2019
Another element of Amazon's adaptation is that it could be more adult than some fans have envisaged. According to TheOneRing.net, Amazon hired a well-known New Zealand intimacy coordinator – Jennifer Ward-Lealand – back in October 2020.
It's unclear what level of intimacy Ward-Lealand has been brought on board for, but some Tolkien fans have already voiced their displeasure over Ward-Lealand's hiring. Why? Well, intimacy – as an industry term – usually refers to nudity or sex scenes. Think along the lines of HBO's adaptation of Game of Thrones and you'll be on the right track.
If, and it's a big if as we don't know Amazon's plan for its adaptation, nudity is a part of the company's Lord of the Rings series, you can expect it to receive a high age rating when it finally airs.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cost
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cost: how expensive is it?
Amazon bought the rights to the Lord of the Rings TV show for $250 million in November 2017 (h/t Deadline). If Amazon completes its reported five-season run, it'll be expected that the entire production will have cost $1 billion, according to The Hollywood Reporter. This would make The Rings of Power the most expensive series of all-time.
That $1 billion mark is moving closer to reality, if not more, too. As New Zealand-based publication Stuff revealed, Amazon's Lord of the Rings will reportedly cost $650m New Zealand dollars to produce. Converting that into US dollars, season 1 is valued over $465 million.
However, Amazon Studios had a portion of its production costs knocked off the bill by the New Zealand government. Reuters reported that Amazon received an extra five per cent from the nation's Screen Production Grant due to the jobs and work it generated for the country's economy. This meant that Amazon Studios was eligible to receive a rebate of NZ$162 million (US$116 million) from the New Zealand government – funds that reduced Amazon's financial outlay for season 1.
That reduction in costs won't be carried over when production moves to the UK, but the British government also offers financial incentives for movies and TV shows to be shot on UK soil. Amazon can expect, then, to receive some form of reimbursement.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power crew
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power crew: who's involved?
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and A Monster Calls director J.A. Bayona is leading production on the show, while J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have been on board since July 2018 (h/t The Hollywood Reporter) to write and co-executively produce the show.
Other executive producers include Bayona, Lindsay Weber, Callum Greene, Jason Cahill, and Gennifer Hutchinson. Kate Hawley led costume design on the series, while concept artist John Howe – one the film's chief conceptual designers – was also part of the crew.
Bayona directed the series' first two instalments, including the pilot episode. Hunters director Wayne Che Yip has directed four of season 1's eight episodes, while Charlotte Brändström (The Witcher, Jupiter's Legacy) helmed the final two entries.
Finally, Howard Shore – who scored all six Lord of the Rings movies – appears to be set to return to Middle Earth for the third time.
In January 2021, Shore spoke to TechRadar entertainment reporter Tom Power (during his freelance days) for Observer.com, revealing that he hadn't been contacted by scoring the show but “would consider it” if asked. Deadline has since reported that Shore has held talks with Amazon Studios about penning the music for its TV adaptation. Here's hoping that an agreement can be reached as Shore would be the perfect fit for it.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power tie-ins
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: is it tied to War of the Rohirrim?
No. The Rings of Power is set centuries before The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, so don't expect there to be any crossover between these events.
For those who may have missed this announcement: last year, Variety reported that Warner Bros. Animation is developing a Lord of the Rings anime movie. Focusing on the history of Helm's Deep, the legendary Rohan stronghold that was the scene for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' massive battle, War of the Rohirrim will tell the tale of King Helm Hammerhand, whose reign is remembered for a long and costly war that occurred during his time on the throne.
Anime filmmaker Kenji Kamiyama, who has helmed Netflix's Ultraman series among other projects, will direct War of the Rohirrim, which will supposedly tie into the six main Lord of the Rings films.
However, given that King Hammerhand's reign took place around 260 years before Lord of the Rings' main events, it won't be linked to Amazon's TV series. The latter is set during Middle Earth's Second Age, so it'll precede events in War of the Rohirrim.
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