Since the TV rights to Tolkien’s work remained with his estate, hammering out a deal with the likes of Warner Bros. It’s Most Like: The Lord of the Rings film series.
Read More: “Everything We Know About The Lord of the Rings Amazon Series” That same month, Wayne Che Yip took over directing duties in New Zealand.
In March of 2021, Tom Budge announced his departure from the series, citing the producers’ decision to take his character in a different direction. The cast includes Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Joseph Mawle, and Morfydd Clark as Galadriel. (Photo by HBO: Joseph Mawle as Benjen Stark in 'Game of Thrones') He and producing partner Belén Atienza will also serve as executive producers. Bayona signed on to helm the first two episodes of the series. In July of 2019, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. The streamer also released the series’ social media pages on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The streaming platform also included this enigmatic quote from Tolkien’s Ring Poem: “Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky.” But after weeks of teasing, the map finally changed to reveal a Second Age setting - the time in which the Elven rings were forged and the Dark Lord Sauron conquered lands in the southern parts of Middle-earth.
While early reports speculated that the series would focus on a younger Aragorn, who roamed the lands of Middle-earth as a Dunedain ranger under various names like Strider and Thorongil, Amazon’s own teases contradict that theory. In February 2019, Amazon released an interactive map of Middle-earth extending into the far east region not included on maps Tolkien made himself though he sketched out some topography for the area in his notes. The renewal necessitates a break in filming season 1, so that the writers room can reassemble and address season 2 plotting and scripts - possibly facilitating simultaneous or back-to-back filming of seasons 1 and 2. Amazon renewed the series for season 2, while season 1 is still early in pre-production in New Zealand, Deadline reported in November. The Fanbase: The obsessive devotees of Tolkien’s legendarium and fans of the Peter Jackson film series.Įverything We Know So Far: Amazon is committed to produce a five-season series based on The Lord of the Rings in partnership with Tolkien’s estate and the various rights holders of the Rings and Hobbit film series. A war across most of Middle-earth ensues. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, an epic tale of four Hobbits, a Wizard, an Elf, two Men and a Dwarf attempting to destroy the Dark Lord Sauron’s master weapon without letting him discover their plan. So here is a handy list of the fantasy series currently in development and a couple we hope will follow them.įANTASY SERIES COMING TO TV AND STREAMINGīased On: J.R.R. There are also a few notable series not yet scooped up by the powers in television that we think should get the TV treatment as soon as possible. A number of classic fantasy epics and novels will become television thanks to the power of streaming services like Amazon, cable options like BBC America, and other outlets that are worth spotlighting. GoT changed that perception, even if the fantasy shows that emerged in its wake - The Shannara Chronicles and Shadowhunters for example - proved closer in story quality to the BeastMaster television series.īut The Lord of the Rings and the Game of Thrones prequels are not the only promising fantasy series in development at the moment. Xena: Warrior Princess was an outlier in terms of quality storytelling, but its occasionally cheesy effects proved to the television executives that fantasy TV was too expensive, while other series proved it was often built on poor story standards. Prior to that, fantasy was relegated to syndicated fare like Conan the Adventurer and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
It may be strange to think of it now, but Game of Thrones was a risky proposition when HBO first began development of the series, and its prospects were buoyed by the fact that its more fantastic elements appeared later in the narrative (we had to wait so long for those dragons). It’s a big change from the genre’s historical position in the medium. Witness the buzz around The Lord of the Rings television series in development at Amazon - acquired for $250 million and expected to ultimately cost more than $1 billion - along with the Gormenghast series announced in 2018 by FreemantleMedia North America, and HBO’s endless plans for the Game of Thrones world. TV is set for an onslaught of high-profile fantasy epics in the next few years, and we at Rotten Tomatoes can’t wait.