Amazon renews ‘Lord of the Rings’ series for Season 2

Amazon has given an early Season 2 renewal to its forthcoming “Lord of the Rings” series, Variety magazine reported.

Pre-production on the project’s first season, which is set to film in New Zealand, is currently underway. 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 it received a full greenlight.

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.

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.”

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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.

In September, Amazon announced that Lord of the Rings will be shot in New Zealand, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said in a statement,

“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, 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.”