For fans who love Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films, it can be difficult to imagine Middle-earth, with its rugged mountains and sylvan countryside, as existing anywhere outside New Zealand. But now the franchise is going back to its literary roots: Amazon Studios has announced that production for the second season of The Lord of the Rings TV series will take place in the U.K. instead of New Zealand, according to Deadline.
The untitled show, which will debut on September 2, 2022, “is set thousands of years” before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, when “the greatest villain that ever flowed from [J.R.R.] Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness,” according to a synopsis. The first season was filmed in New Zealand and will continue post-production there, but the second season will be shot in the U.K., according to a statement from Amazon Studios.
The statement noted that the location change “aligns with the studio’s strategy of expanding its production footprint and investing in studio space across the U.K.” But Variety reported that “New Zealand’s almost hermetic border closure policy in response to the coronavirus” could also have influenced the move. Due to the country’s travel restrictions, the cast was effectively locked down there. The ability to film in Europe also played into the decision, according to Deadline.
David Strong, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, called the decision “a shame” according to Variety, which reported that the New Zealand crew was notified a mere twenty minutes before the move was publicized.
“We want to thank the people and the government of New Zealand for their hospitality and dedication and for providing The Lord of the Rings series with an incredible place to begin this epic journey,” said Vernon Sanders, vice president and co-head of TV at Amazon Studios.
The U.K. wasted no time touting the news.
The decision is a homecoming of sorts: Tolkien originally drew some inspiration for Middle-earth from the landscape in England in his canonical fantasy series. However, whether the show will find an appropriate stand-in for Mount Doom in the U.K. remains to be seen. The new series, centering on an era when “kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin,” certainly feels like timely escapism.
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