Amazon has been relentlessly toiling away for the past few years at what has now officially become the biggest television event of all time, or at least the most expensive. Developed by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, Amazon Studios officially announced last year that their highly anticipated upcoming series based on J. R. R. Tolkien‘s The Lord of the Rings will make its premiere on September 2nd 2022. The time is almost upon us.
Streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, the series will take place during the Second Age of Middle-earth, well before the events of the novel and Peter Jackson’s acclaimed film trilogy, but will feature a similarly large ensemble cast. Filming began in New Zealand in February of 2020 and has been ongoing ever since – a particularly grueling and extensive shooting schedule that speaks to the scale of both the series and the production itself. When Amazon purchased the television rights in 2017, they committed to making five seasons worth around a staggering one billion dollars.
After many sneak peeks, teasers and images, Amazon Studios has just released a gorgeous full trailer for the series (the video is labeled as a teaser but at two and a half minutes it certainly hits the trailer criteria). Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ premieres September 2nd, 2022 only on Amazon Prime Video.
