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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.
The show is one of the most expensive ever made, with season 1 costing $426m for production alone (not to mention Amazon reportedly bought the rights to The Lord of the Rings for an added $250m). Because the entire Tolkien universe is now available to the billion-dollar company, Amazon is free to adapt any part of the series it wants. Before Rings of Power came to fruition, other shows that followed Young Aragon or Gimli were pitched.
"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."
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our list of the best shows on Amazon Prime Video to stream right now.
