The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – the LOTR prequel series coming to Prime Video later this year – has another five years, according to the showrunner. The series has been confirmed for five seasons, with 50-hour episodes. The final shot of the upcoming sequel has already been scheduled, and the streaming service on Monday shared a fresh look at The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series, which premieres September 2 on Amazon Prime Video.
Set over five seasons, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power focuses on the stories of elves, dwarves, harfoots, and other mystical creatures and is set in the second age of Middle-earth. “The rights Amazon bought were for a 50-hour show. They knew from the start that this was the size of the canvas – a big story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. There are things in the first season it won’t pay out until season 5,” revealed showrunner JD Payne in an interview with Empire, along with a fresh look at the upcoming series.
In 2018, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the series had a five-season commitment that would cost Amazon over a billion dollars (approximately Rs. 75,000 crores) over five seasons. The show reportedly had a budget of over $450 million (about Rs. 3,400 crores) for its first season as it involved creating the infrastructure that the series would last.
And while The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may be confirmed for five seasons, Payne adds that the creators have already planned their work for the future. “We even know what our last shot of the last episode will be,” he added. The plot for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will feature new additions to author JRR Tolkien’s lore, but co-showrunner Patrick McKay says the series will follow Tolkien’s desire to “leave a mythology that “left space.” for other minds and hands that wield the tools of paint, music, and drama.'”
It sounds like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be able to keep in touch with the vision Tolkien envisioned for the Lord of the Rings. “The pressure would drive us crazy if we didn’t feel like there was a story here that didn’t come from us. It comes from a bigger place,” explains McKay, adding that the show’s creators were just the “stewards” of the story from Tolkien. “We have so much faith in those ideas because they are not ours. We are custodians at best,” he adds.
“It was like Tolkien put some stars in the sky and showed us the constellations… As long as we felt that each invention of ours was true to its essence, we knew we were on the right track,” explains McKay, adding that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power adapted attachments in Tolkien’s work.
Upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power stars Markella Kavenagh, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Sophia Nomvete, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangerobani.
The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will debut on Amazon Prime Video on September 2, with a new episode streaming each week in more than 240 territories, according to the streaming service.
