The epic is going digital
The fantasy novel will be launching on Prime video soon Amazon was quick to grab the rights. The series will be produced in amazon studios. J.D Payne and Patrick McKay will be serving as the showrunners, Additionally Tolkien estate and trust, Harpercollins, and New line cinema will offer their cooperation.
Television rights of the famous series didn’t come easy for amazon. In fact, they got it in 2017 for US $250 million dollars for a five-season run which cost $1Billion. Lord of the rings is the most expensive series ever to be made. The showrunners were the first to be hired in 2018, Meanwhile, the complete team wasn’t hired for another year.
Casting , Writing and Production
It wasn’t easy to bring the ensemble cast together, auditions took place all around the world. Filming finally began in Auckland, New Zealand in 2020. The Ensemble cast includes Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Joseph Mawle, Tom Budge, Markella Kavenagh, and many other stars. 20 more stars are recently cast. Meanwhile, Bryan Cogman joined as a consultant for the first season. The series has Bayona, Bruce Richmond, Atienza, Sharon Tal Yguado, Lindey Weber, and Gene Kelly as executive producers. Although Kelly left and Callum Greene who produced The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug joined the team.
The series was filmed in Kumeu Film Studios and Auckland Film Studios. Writers were made to take extreme security measures to keep everything under wraps. The team of writers included Gennifer Hutchison, Helen Shang, Jason Cahill, Stephany Folsom, and Justin Doble. Glenise Mullins was a consulting writer
Plot and Release date
Although the details of the plot are being kept under wraps, the series unlike the trilogy books will be based on a prequel. It will take place in the era of the Second age of middle earth. Amazon will be launching the series on 22nd September 2022, Bilbo Baggin’s birthday.