Watch the fiery, slow-motion molten metal ‘title birth’ of Prime Video’s highly anticipated, $500 million, 2-season at least series, set thousands of years before the events of ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings,’ premiering September 2.
In dramatic fashion replete with fiery, slow-motion molten metal befit the epic franchise it now inhabits, Prime Video unveiled the full name of its upcoming television series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, foreshadowing plans for an epic story that welds the major events of Tolkien's Second Age together: the forging of the iconic rings.
Launching with a two-season commitment, the series will premiere exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries around the world in multiple languages on Friday, September 2, with new episodes available weekly.
Feast your eyes… focus your gaze… break out the pipe-weed and ale… and harken back to middle school metal shop, when such things still existed:
“This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien’s other classics,” said showrunners J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay. “The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring – but before there was one, there were many… and we’re excited to share the epic story of them all.”
According to Prime Video, the series is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings,” and 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.
Let it be so!
The series boasts a true Fellowship of the ages, with a large production roster bursting with decorated industry veterans. Writing team Payne (Star Trek Beyond) and McKay (Star Trek Beyond) serve as showrunners, while J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) will direct the first two episodes. Lindsey Weber (Star Trek Beyond), Bruce Richmond (From the Earth to the Moon), and Sharon Tal Yguado (The Listener) will executive produce. Gennifer Hutchinson (Breaking Bad, Mad Men), Jason Cahill (Fringe, The Sopranos), Justin Doble (Stranger Things, Cloverfield), will also executive produce alongside Bayona and his partner Belén Atienza (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Impossible). Wayne Che Yip is co-executive producer and directs along with Charlotte Brändström. Ron Ames and Christopher Newman produce.
The previously revealed ensemble cast includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson; Robert Aramayo; Owain Arthur; Maxim Baldry; Nazanin Boniadi; Morfydd Clark; Ismael Cruz Córdova; Charles Edwards; Trystan Gravelle; Sir Lenny Henry; Ema Horvath; Markella Kavenagh; Joseph Mawle; Tyroe Muhafidin; Sophia Nomvete; Lloyd Owen; Megan Richards; Dylan Smith; Charlie Vickers; Leon Wadham; Benjamin Walker; Daniel Weyman; and Sara Zwangobani.
Stream The Lord of the Rings September 2, 2022 exclusively on Prime Video.
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
