Lord of the Rings Amazon prequel series: Everything you need to know – CNET

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The new Middle-earth map shows the upcoming terrain of the Lord of the Rings series on Amazon.


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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 Game of Thrones. Instead, it’s a prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga, soon to become an Amazon Prime original series.

Don’t expect a retread of familiar territory. Amazon 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 company says the original storylines will come from a time period preceding The Fellowship of the Ring. 

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, Deadline reported that Amazon 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 Hollywood Reporter speculates that the whole shebang could cost more than $1 billion.

The latest news

Back to Middle-earth

It’s no surprise, but in September 2019, Amazon Studios confirmed that the show will shoot in New Zealand, home of the Peter Jackson films.

“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.”

Endless episodes

My German is limited, but Fandom pointed out in early August that Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, who’s listed in an official video as working on the show, had revealed some series details to a German Tolkien Society site. 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.

And in late 2019, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke told Deadline that the second season is already in the works, meaning the show will likely have a shorter break between the airing of the first two seasons, unlike some shows which make viewers wait a year or more for a new season.

The basics:  What and when?

WHAT… Amazon bought the global TV rights to Tolkien’s (it’s pronounced Tol-KEEN) 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 deal requires Amazon to commit to five seasons, as well as begin production within two years. Production news started to crank out right on schedule in late 2019, with news of a second season confirmed.

In a 2018 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 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 Amazon Prime membership to access the content, but once you have one, you get unlimited streaming via Prime Video, which is now available in more than 200 countries.

Who’s in the cast?

In January 2019, Amazon announced numerous cast members for the series. Only two character names have slipped out. English actor Robert Aramayo, who played young Ned Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones, will star as Beldor, the leading role in the new series. Australian actor Markella Kavenagh will reportedly play a character named Tyra. And British actor Maxim Baldry has signed on for a lead role. 

Other cast members include Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Joseph Mawle (Benjen Stark in Game of Thrones), Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman.

And late in 2019, two New Zealand talent agencies announced they were hoping to cast some unusual-looking extras. “We are looking for a mix of people of all ages, genders/other from multiracial backgrounds with interesting character faces and (physicalities),” one post read. The post went on to list just some of the descriptions the agency is looking for, citing “earthy, weathered, dark skin (tones), missing teeth, wonderful noses, etc. etc.”  Hey, turns out that forgetting to brush and floss finally paid off.

Who else is involved?

Godzilla vs. Kong screenwriters J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay 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.

In George R.R. Martin’s online post after the Game of Thrones finale in May 2019, Martin wrote, “Amazon scooped up Bryan Cogman, and put him to work on developing shows of his own, as well as helping out on their big Tolkien project.”

Cogman wrote 11 episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones series and was a co-executive producer by the end of the show’s run. Variety says Cogman will consult on the show. But when Amazon posted a short video in 2019, Cogman was listed as one of the writers, along with Gennifer Hutchison, Helen Shang, Jason Cahill, Glenise Mullins, Justin Doble and Stephany Folsom

J.A. Bayona, who directed 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is directing the first two episodes. “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.

Belén Atienza, Bruce Richmond, Gene Kelly and Lindsey Weber are executive producers, with Ron Ames as a co-producer

What’s it all about?

You won’t have seen these stories before, but you’ll know the Middle-earth setting and likely some of the details from LOTR. Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins, said in the original Amazon press release that the Amazon team has “exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.” 

But not everything will be unfamiliar. Amazon reportedly has rights to use elements from the Jackson movies, though we’re unsure what form that will take. Jackson himself told Metro U.K. that he won’t be deeply involved, but that he might offer some assistance.

There are four ages in Tolkien’s works. Lord of the Rings was set in the Third Age, and this series will take place in The Second Age, Amazon revealed in a tweet sent in March 2019. The famous One Ring of Lord of the Rings fame was forged in this time period by the Dark Lord Sauron, who seems likely to be a major part of the new show.

Amazon’s Salke told Deadline, “we’re not remaking the movies, but we’re also not starting from scratch. So, it’ll be characters you love.”

But probably not one particular character. Tolkien fan site The One Ring stirred buzz among fans in May 2018 by tweeting that the show’s first season would be centered on a young Aragorn. Portrayed by Viggo Mortensen in the Peter Jackson movies, he was an acclaimed warrior and ranger who plays a major role in Lord of the Rings. But that rumor fell flat once Amazon confirmed the Second Age setting, since Aragorn wouldn’t have been around then.

In February 2019, Amazon shared an interactive map showing the part of Middle-earth that’ll be depicted in the show. Users can zoom in on parts of the map and move around it. There’s not a lot to see so far, but the map does show the island of Númenor, which rose from the sea and then was destroyed and sunk back under the waves, Atlantis-style.

You can bookmark the show’s official site, as well as follow it on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. As news is revealed, there or elsewhere, we’ll update this post.

This story was first posted in May 2019 and will be updated as news is revealed.

Update, 1:30 p.m. Jan. 16: Added cast and crew names, some additional details.

source: cnet.com