Amazon Prime’s magnum opus Rings of Power which is a prequel to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books and Jackson’s trilogy is out on the streaming giant. When the idea of the series was pitched there was a bidding war between Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Amazon Prime finally won the bidding war at $250 Million. That’s just the sale price. Since, Amazon had the rights to the material, the show entered development and they made one choice that changed everything. They decided not to adapt the books exactly as they’re, the story of the show starts 200 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. The show is set in the second age, the same time which was presented to us as the back story in the films.
Amazon’s choice has turned controversial as the fans of the books and Peter Jackson’s trilogy are unhappy. To be honest, the series is still loyal as the stories being told are from Tolkien’s world. There was a lot buzz around for the series, both in a positive and negative way. So when the long awaited series debuted on Amazon Prime Video, it debuted with two episodes, giving all the fans a double feature. The anticipation of a LOTR series was so high that despite it being a slug fest, it had the biggest debut of all time, beating HBO’s House of the Dragon. The show’s quality is slowing improving with each episode’s release and mid season we’ve gotten an update about the show’s 2nd season’s release.
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Season 2 is Coming Out Sooner Than You’d Expected!
The Lord of the Rings prequel has not been one to get warm response by fans. No one has denied the magnanimous scale of the show but when it comes to storytelling…its a hit or miss. The prequel is the adaptation of Tolkien’s Silmarillion. The show seems like a loyal adaptation of Tolkien’s world. However, I can understand the notion amongst fans that the series feels like an attempt at proving they can do a better Lord of the Rings than Tolkien.
Amazon knows the power that they’re wielding and they’ve not put their foot down when to comes to making the LOTR prequel. Apart from the $250 Million bidding war, the first season of the show has been made on a budget of $465 Million, making it the most expensive TV show of all time. Sorry Game of Thrones. Even if the show is not up to the mark as we’d expected, it is still bringing in viewers and maintaining a decent retention rate for each episode.
Just a month back, it was revealed to us that Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’s Season 2 will begin filming very soon and today as we stand the prequel has started filming in the UK unlike New Zealand where the first season was shot. Amazon was never going to cancel the series. They know this is a gold mine that they have. They might have started well but they can certainly make it better. Honestly, a season 2 makes sense given the number of people interested in LOTR.
Per Variety, Jennifer Salke says the production team is working quickly to finish season 2 as fast as they can. She also revealed their desire to have the “shortest time possible between seasons” without suffering a decrease in quality. Salke said, “The production team is working on Season 2 now. We’re going to get that out into the world as soon as we can. We want the shortest time possible between seasons, but we want to keep the bar just as high. So it’ll take what it takes. But there’s been some urgency around moving quickly, which is why these guys have been writing all through their hiatus. We’re moving fast.”
With Amazon Studios intent on fast-tracking production, Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 could premiere a lot sooner than initially expected. Filming is already underway, though considering the show’s huge production scale, it likely won’t be ready to air until late next year at the earliest. So a late 2023 release date seems likely and a season 2 to come out this quickly is impressive.
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power’s first six episodes are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video. New episodes will debut on every Thursday or Friday on Prime Video depending on the region you live in, at 9 pm ET.
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