Amazon moves on Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings: TV remake underway

Global streaming giant Amazon has already renewed its mega budget series version of The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) for a second season, before the first has aired.

Amazon paid a reported US$250m to secure the TV remake rights to JRR Tolkien’s epic story for its Prime Video service in 2017.

The show is being produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros Entertainment, which produced the LOTR movie franchise.

Pre-production on the first season is currently underway, with filming taking place in New Zealand, and Amazon has now officially greenlit a second run to follow it, according to Deadline.

The adaptation of Tolkien’s fantasy novels will explore new storylines preceding The Fellowship of the Ring, the first instalment of the saga.

The showrunners are JD Payne and Patrick McKay, who will also serve as executive producers alongside Lindsey Weber, Bruce Richmond, Gene Kelly, Sharon Tal Yguado, Gennifer Hutchison, Jason Cahill, Justin Doble, Belén Atienza and JA Bayona, who will also direct the first two episodes.

The show is major part of the ongoing content arms race between streamers Amazon, Netflix, HBO Go, Peacock and Disney+. It will aim to capitalise on the audience hunger for fantasy drama following the success of HBO’s Game of Thrones series.