Amazon has given an early Season 2 renewal to its forthcoming “Lord of the Rings” series.
Pre-production on the project’s first season, which is set to film in New Zealand, is currently underway — although sources tell Variety that the full cast has not yet been set. Several actors, including Markella Kavenagh, Will Poulter, and Joseph Mawle, have already been cast.
The “Lord of the Rings” series is being developed by the writing team of JD Payne and Patrick McKay. In addition, “Game of Thrones” alum Bryan Cogman has signed on as a consulting producer on the project, with J.A. Bayona set to direct multiple episodes. Amazon gave the series a two-season commitment when it was first announced, but the second season was not locked until Amazon recently gave it a full greenlight.
In addition to those previously mentioned, the show’s full creative team will consist of: executive producers Lindsey Weber, Bruce Richmond, Gene Kelly, and Amazon’s former head of genre programming Sharon Tal Yguado; writer and executive producer Gennifer Hutchison; writer and executive producer Jason Cahill; writer and executive producer Justin Doble; consulting producer Stephany Folsom; producer Ron Ames; writer and co-producer Helen Shang; and writing consultant Glenise Mullins. Bayona will also executive produce along with his partner Belén Atienza.
The series will be produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.
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Little is known about the plot of the “Lord of the Rings” series beyond the fact it will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Fellowship of the Ring.” The show’s official Twitter account sent out an image of a map along with the two messages: “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,” as well as “Welcome to the Second Age.” In the Tolkien mythology, the Second Age was the time in which the Rings of Power, including Sauron’s One Ring, came into existence.
Variety exclusively reported on the castings of both Poulter and Kavenagh earlier this year, as well as the news of the series development back in 2017.
Deadline was first to report the early renewal.
