Lord of the Rings TV show sets first season 2 filming locations as production moves to UK

Lord of the Rings
(Image credit: New Line Cinema)

Middle-earth is coming to the UK – Amazon has set the first UK filming locations for season 2 of its Lord of the Rings TV show, Variety reports.

Earlier this year, it was announced that production was moving from New Zealand to the UK for the show's second season – Peter Jackson's original trilogy of movies and The Hobbit prequels were all filmed Down Under, as well as season 1 of the Amazon show. 

A new report reveals that the first UK filming locations have been selected: Bray Film Studios in Maidenhead and Bovingdon Airfield in Hertfordshire. The latter has 60 acres of open land and movies filmed there include Justice League and Fast & Furious 6.

Not much is known about the series yet, although a first look image has been released. It looks set to be a spectacle, though – the budget for season 1 is rumored to be around $450 million. By comparison, the combined cost of Jackson's trilogy was $281 million.

Meanwhile, the show's official synopsis says it "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."

While we wait for the Lord of the Rings TV show to arrive on the streamer on September 2, 2022, check out our list of the best shows on Amazon Prime that you can watch right now.

Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX sections. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.