The Lord of the Rings is sn upcoming television series is being produced based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth before the events of the Lord of the Rings novel and films. The series is produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema, with Payne and McKay serving as showrunners.
Amazon bought the television rights for The Lord of the Rings for US$250 million in November 2017, making a five-season production commitment worth at least US$1 billion. This would make it the most expensive television series ever made. Payne and McKay were hired to develop the series in July 2018, with the rest of the creative team confirmed a year later.
Casting for the large ensemble cast took place around the world. Filming took place in New Zealand, where the film trilogy was made, from February 2020 to August 2021 with a production break of several months during that time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first eight-episode season is expected to premiere on Prime Video on September 2, 2022. A second season was formally ordered in November 2019. Amazon announced in August 2021 that filming for future seasons would take place in the United Kingdom.
