Amazon's adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings, which is on track to become the most expensive television series ever made, is planning to film in the United Kingdom for its second season.
Filming has only just wrapped on its first season which has been using the city of Auckland in New Zealand as the location for the epic high fantasy show. The prequel is set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and will use an ensemble cast to reveal how the return of evil threatens the existence of all in Middle-earth. Right now, the only character confirmed to appear is Galadriel, who will be played by Morfydd Clark who has credits in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Personal History of David Copperfield and Saint Maud.
Actors from Prison Break, The Mandalorian, Arrow, Into The Badlands, Game Of Thrones, Doctor Who, Westworld and How I Met Your Mother comprise the cast and with "previously unexplored stories" to tell, there will possibly be some brand new characters to introduce to fans of the original trilogy of films.
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From developer Daedalic Entertainment, The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum sees the player shadowing one of the most interesting characters in the books, and conflicting with his two personalities to determine how the story will go. Check out the trailer below.
Amazon Studios knew that the cast and crew attached to the first season were off to New Zealand from the get-go. After all, it's the country's gorgeous landscapes that are the backdrop to Peter Jackson's adaptations of the texts. "We're going to have to go somewhere interesting that could provide those locations in a really authentic way, because we want it to look incredible," said head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke in an interview with Deadline. "There's no shortage of ambition for the project. We'll go where we need to go to make it happen."
For the second season, it's the United Kingdom. "As we look to relocate the production to the U.K., we do not intend to actively pursue the Season One MoU five percent financial uplift with the New Zealand government or preserve the terms around that agreement, however we respectfully defer to our partners and will remain in close consultation with them around next steps," said Albert Cheng, COO and co-head of TV for Amazon Studios, in a statement to Variety.
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Of course, this is the first time that a live-action Lord Of The Rings project will be filmed and produced outside of New Zealand and there are no shortage of locations. Arborfield Studios has been used by The Witcher to bring the town of Oxenfurt to life in its second season, and 3 Mills Studios in London has featured in The Great and Killing Eve. This is all guesswork because filming on the second season won't start until the first season has progressed through post-production, and that will be in early 2022, apparently.
Featured Image Credit: Amazon Studios, New Line CinemaTopics: News, The Lord Of The Rings