The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has begun filming season 2.
The news comes just days after the announcement that the series had debuted at no. 1 on the streaming charts, earning over 1.25 billion units of streaming time – even though only the first two episodes were released.
Season 2 has entered production in New Zealand, where the entirety of the Peter Jackson trilogy and Hobbit trilogies were filmed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a new character, Círdan, "one of the oldest and wisest of the elves," has been added to the show but has yet to be cast.
"There are so many worlds that could have been shows of their own, but we wanted to do something that played all the notes on a piano," said screenwriter Patrick McKay of his and showrunner J.D Payne's adaptation. "There are other fantasy shows that will do one thing really well, where it’s this political thing, or it does great magic. In Tolkien, one moment you’re hand on heart with Hobbits, and they’re being silly and fun and charming. And in the next, it’s a deep political drama with intense discussion about the fates of kingdoms."
