Amazon Prime Video reveals the title of its Lord of the Rings series as The Rings of Power.

by Thinus Ferreira

Amazon Prime Video has finally revealed the title of its upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series set to debut on 2 September with new episodes weekly, as Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The Rings of Power title is revealed in a new video in which a woman's voice says "Three rings for the Elven kings under the sky. Seven for the dwarf lords in their halls of stone. Nine for mortal men, doomed to die. One for the dark lord on his dark throne in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie."

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set as a prequel story to the Lord of the Rings films, during the so-called Second Age.

"This is a title that we imagine could live on the spine of a book next to J.R.R. Tolkien's other classics," showrunners J.R. Payne and Patrick McKay say in a statement.

"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."

Just as so many elements of the show itself were hand-crafted, Amazon Prime Video chose to physically forge the title in a blacksmith foundry, the video streaming says, pouring fiery molten metal into hand-carved wooden ravines shaped to the letterforms.

The process was captured in slow motion for a live-action video, which features voice-over narration of lines from Tolkien's famous "Ring Verse," describing the intended recipients of the 20 Rings of Power.

The bespoke title treatment appears crafted in a silvery metal, with lines of Elvish script inscribed along the crest of each letterform. 

Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. 

This epic drama 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 one of the greatest villains 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 reemergence 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 farthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone," Amazon Studios says.

The series is led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay and they are joined by executive producers Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, and producers Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. 

Wayne Che Yip is co-executive producer and directs along with J.A. Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.

ALSO READ: FIRST LOOK. Lord of the Rings drama series unveils first image, fantasy series will start on Amazon Prime Video on 2 September 2022.

ALSO READ: Amazon Studios' Lord of the Rings fantasy drama series will be set during the Second Age and include the island of Númenor.

ALSO READ: The new Lord of the Rings map starts to provide tantalising clues to not just where - but when - Amazon Prime Video's fantasy drama series will be set.

22 TV things coming in 2022.

by Thinus Ferreira

The year of 2022 in South African television is gearing up with promises of new content, new corporate moves, new video streamers, dragons, elves, jedi, idols, survivors, Kardashians, returning award shows and festivals; even blood psalms and big brothers - as well as Muvhango and the Teletubbies turning 25. 

Here are 22 things coming and happening in television in 2022:

1. Disney+

From around June this year, The Walt Disney Company plans to launch its Disney+ video streaming service in South Africa as the first country on the African continent to get access to this streamer that started in November 2019. What will it cost? So far we can only guess but it will bundle TV content and films from across Disney, National Geographic, Marvel, Pixar and ABC under the Star tile.

2. SABC streaming

The South African public broadcaster that has been very late out of the blocks said it will launch its own video streaming service in 2022. 

The SABC streaming service - SABC+, SABC Plus, SABSee? - will function a lot like the BBC iPlayer and eMedia's eVOD service, It will bundle current and library content from the public broadcaster, as well as streaming versions of its TV channels, together on one digital streaming service.

3. Lord of the Rings

Get ready to watch the most expensive TV show yet when the 8-episode first season of the as-yet-untitled The Lord of the Rings TV series will debut in September on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service. Filmed in New Zealand, the TV show is set during the so-called Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events depicted in the films.

4. Halo

What's up Master Chief? Where South African viewers will be able to watch it or whether they will have to become pirate viewers is still unclear but the first season of 10-episodes of the science fiction TV series based on the hugely popular video game Halo will make its debut in early-2022 on the Paramount+ video streaming service. 

Pablo Schreiber is the supersoldier Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 under the helmet with the series "following an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant".

5. Idols season 18

More noteworthy than the return of the reality singing competition to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) in the winter of 2022, with nationwide auditions starting on 23 January, are the numerous questions swirling around the veteran series. 

Is [SIC] Entertainment really contemplating bringing back Somizi Mhlongo as a judge after serious allegations of physical abuse levelled against him last year and which have not yet been resolved? Is Unathi Nkayi out as a judge after her image damage of 2021? Will the Idols' ratings continue to slide in 2022 after thousands of DStv subscribers tuned out following the Somizi-scandal?

6. Survivor South Africa season 9

By the time you're reading this, filming is about to start or has started on the 9th season of Survivor South Africa, subtitled "Return of the Outcasts" scheduled for a winter debut on M-Net (DStv 101). Which outcasts from previous seasons will be back and how will they use what they've learnt from their first go-round to try and outwit, outplay and outlast their rivals?

7. 10th Silwerskermfees

Known as "Cannes in Cape Town", kykNET is bringing back its film festival with an in-person event with the 10th Silwerskermfees set to take place in Camps Bay during March 2022. 

The film festival last took place as an in-person event in March 2019 and in 2022 will take the form of a "vibrant hybrid format" according to the organisers. 

According to kykNET the 10th Silwerskermfees "will maintain the festival's signature glitz, glam and prestige while allowing a much broader audience to enjoy the films and festivities".

8. 8th African Magic Viewers' Choice Awards

Last held in March 2020, MultiChoice and M-Net West Africa is bringing back the Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCAs) for an 8th edition this year that will again be taking place in Lagos, Nigeria. 

With a total of 33 categories (viewers get to vote for 12) the awards is adding "Best Online Social Content Creator" as a new category this year.

9. Digital terrestrial television

After more than a decade and a half, South Africa is expected to complete its long-delayed switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT), although the process could once again end up being delayed even further because of court cases. 

Another big question is what the impact will be on South Africa's TV ratings system when television households who have not switched to digital set-top boxes (STBs) when their analogue TV signals are cut, are wiped from the TAMS viewership? 

While the SABC doesn't want to comment, eMedia that runs e.tv warned last year that there will be disastrous consequences and implored the government to extend the suddenly-rushed deadline of 2022 for switch-off.

10. Love Island Naija

Following the disastrous Love Island SA version, producers Chudor House Productions and ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced at a glittering media event in June that the world's first all-black Love Island edition would start in October 2021 in Nigeria and be shown on MTV Base. 

The date - and year - came and went. 

Is 2022 the year that the 20 Nigerian singles "come together to share the true essence of love, romance, friendship and relationships in 7 exhilarating weeks in the Love Island villa"? 

11. Big Brother Mzansi

A new season of the revived Big Brother Mzansi is set to debut on 23 January on MultiChoice's DStv channel 198 as a 24-hour pop-up channel, together with daily shows and weekly highlights on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161). 

Lawrence Maleka is the host and whether it's the Shower Hour, diary room confessions or late-night hanky-panky, the South African version is set to bring some early-2022 reality show buzz. There will be a 7th season of Big Brother Naija in June 2022, also shown across sub-Saharan Africa again on MultiChoice's DStv.

12. Blood Psalms

After a drawn-out process as the most expensive TV series yet produced in South Africa, Blood Psalms, is supposed to debut in February on MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service after its October 2021 debut was postponed because of the department of trade, industry and competition's failure to pay Yellowbone Entertainment the millions of rand the producers are due in the country's broken film rebate scheme.

13. Real housewives

2022 will deliver an avalanche of Real Housewives from Africa in the sprawling reality franchise. The Real Housewives of Lagos as a new spin-off series will debut in the first half of 2022 on MultiChoice's Showmax video streaming service. The third season of The Real Housewives of Johannesburg will be shown in April 2022 that will consist out of 14 episodes.

Meanwhile, the second season of The Real Housewives of Durban will also be on Showmax in the second half of 2022, with some new cast members. 

Then there is The Real Housewives of Dubai also coming in 2022 as a new spinoff, and there are rumours that South Africa is also getting The Real Housewives of Cape Town as yet another spinoff series.

14. Obi-Wan Kenobi

This is the show you're looking for. Billed as a "limited series", meaning it's a miniseries telling a complete story, Ewan McGregor will be back in this new 6-episode Star Wars drama series in 2022 to reprise his role as Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hayden Christensen will also show up to reprise his role as Darth Vader.

15. SA rugby and football documentaries

SuperSport is prepping two sports documentaries for 2022. Two Sides is another Springbok documentary, similar to Chasing the Sun, with cameras that once again got unprecedented access inside the Springbok rugby team camp. 

Then there is also the 4-episode Pulse of a Nation: A South African Football Story that will take DStv subscribers inside the world of professional South African football.

16. House of the Dragon

M-Net (DStv 101) has picked up the 10-episode Game of Thrones prequel drama series, House of the Dragon that will debut on an as-yet-unannounced date this year. 

Filmed mostly in the United Kingdom, the prequel series chronicle the fall of the House of Targaryen when dragons still roamed Westeros in bigger numbers before their virtual extinction during the time of Game of Thrones. 

The fantasy series will revolve around the family politics and drama - basically a family civil war - that became known as the legendary "Dance of the Dragons". 

And talking about spinoffs, we'll throw in here as a bonus Vikings: Valhalla, a spinoff from Vikings that will debut on 25 February on Netflix. The new series is set 100 years after the original, following the adventures of some of the most iconic Vikings, like Leif Erikson.

17. The Kardashians

Done and dusted on E! in 2021, the ending of Keeping Up with the Kardashians means that the Kardashian clan is moving to a renamed reality endeavour on Hulu in 2022, with no word yet on where South African viewers will be able to watch their new show - very likely under the Star tile on Disney+ when that streamer launched in South Africa later this year. 

The coterie of Kardashian and Jenner family members will be in The Kardashians, plus Scott Disick. Kylie's baby will presumably make its TV debut, along with all the presumed drama around the Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker engagement and planned wedding.

18. Anatomy of a Scandal

David E. Kelly is behind this upcoming anthology series coming to Netflix this year starring Sienna Miller, Michelle Dockery and Naomi Scott. 

Based on the novel by Sarah Vaughan, viewers can get ready for a depiction of various scandals within Britain's elite class - imagine a Gossip Girl for adults set in the United Kingdom.

19. Muvhango turns 25

It will be a silver celebration for Muvhango in April when the long-running Venda drama series, produced by Word of Mouth Pictures and created by Duma Ndlovu, will mark its 25th birthday on SABC2.

As another 25th TV anniversary, we'll make you feel old Gen Z by telling you that the Teletubbies will turn 25 on 31 March. Happy quarter-life crisis Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po!

20. Law & Order

"Dum-Dum". No word yet on where South African viewers will see the revival and reboot of the iconic American procedural series but in 2022 the American criminal system "where the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: The police, who investigate crime, and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders" are back for a 21st season.

Multiple former cast members will be back to reprise their roles like Sam Waterson, Anthony Anderson and S. Epetha Merkerson, with Camryn Manheim joining in a new role. The season will start on 24 February in America.

We'll throw in here as a bonus the return of the comedy series Frasier with Kelsey Grammer sometime this year as well. Coming to Paramount+, there's no word yet on where South African viewers will get to see Frasier, Niles and Daphne again.

21. New brooms

South African television enters 2022 with several new TV bosses, sitting in new seats with new titles. As much as their job is to preserve the status quo of the content collections they manage, they will also want to bring their own stamp to bear on the existing and upcoming content slates under their care.

At MultiChoice, Georginah Machiridza is the pay-TV operator's new head of content, in the position of executive head of content strategy and third-party channels.

MultiChoice promoted Nomsa Philiso as the pay-TV operator's new head of programming. Replacing Nkateko Mabaso, Nomsa Philiso's new title is MultiChoice's executive head: programming.

Meanwhile, MultiChoice appointed Shirley Adonisi as the new M-Net director for local entertainment channels replacing Nomsa Philiso in the role, with Waldimar Pelser who officially becomes the new kykNET boss from February as the M-Net director for Afrikaans channels. What new television will they collective commission in 2022 and what changes will they make?

22. (Another) SABC shake-out

At the struggling public broadcaster, a completely untenable David vs Goliath battle is playing out between the SABC News boss Phathiswa Magopeni against SABC CEO Madoda Mxakwe and SABC chairperson Bongumusa Makhathini, whom she both accused of allegedly being guilty of gross ANC political editorial interference.

With the ANC's next national elective conference very likely taking place by the end of this year is highly likely that either Phathiswa Magopeni, or Madoda Mxakwe and Bongumusa Makhathini will have exited the SABC.

FIRST LOOK. Lord of the Rings drama series unveils first image, fantasy series will start on Amazon Prime Video on 2 September 2022.

by Thinus Ferreira

The most expensive TV series yet, the as-yet-untitled Lord of the Rings drama series, has unveiled a first look image of the production with Amazon Prime Video that revealed that the first season will start on 2 September 2022 on the video streaming service.

According to Amazon Studios, filming on the first season of the multi-season Lord of the Rings series wrapped on Monday 2 August in Auckland, New Zealand.

According to Amazon Prime Video, the Lord of the Rings series takes place during the so-called Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien's book series, placing it a thousand years before the events of the Third Age in the Lord of the Rings books and The Hobbit which were turned into films.

Since several of the fantasy creatures within his fantasy universe have very long lifespans, the series will follow an ensemble of characters that will include new faces but some who are also "familiar" and likely younger than what they were in the films. 

While there is peace in the land and mankind lives in on Númenor, "the kingdom of Men", that has been established on an island brought up out of the sea by the Valar in the early Second Age, the multi-season series filmed in New Zealand will build towards the "long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-Earth".

Previously Amazon Studios said that the series "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" - a clear allusion that viewers might get to experience the origin story of the Dark Lord Sauron. 

Amazon Prime Video is available in South Africa at R79.99 monthly and offers a free 7-day trial.

 It can also be accessed through the app on MultiChoice's DStv Explora decoder although DStv subscribers will have to pay Amazon directly and not through their DStv bill, while Vodacom offers its subscribers 6 months of Amazon Prime Video for free and thereafter R79.99 monthly.

Amazon's Lord of the Rings series that would have started this year before the global coronavirus pandemic delayed TV and film productions worldwide, will now start on Friday 2 September 2022 and be available in 240 countries and territories, with new episodes that will be released weekly.

It means that the TV series will start 85 years after J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was first published on 21 September 1937.

A first look still image from the first episode - of which Amazon is deliberately not identifying the character dressed in white in a field or the pastoral setting - depicts a utopian-like city built on a hill with white stone, waterfalls and lush vegetation. 

"The journey begins 2 September 2022 with the premiere of our original The Lord of the Rings series on Prime Video," says Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, in a statement.

"I can't express enough just how excited we all are to take our global audience on a new and epic journey through Middle-earth. Our talented producers, cast, creative, and production teams have worked tirelessly in New Zealand to bring this untold and awe-inspiring vision to life."

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are the showrunners on the series that is produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

"As Bilbo says, 'Now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey'. Living and breathing Middle-earth these many months has been the adventure of a lifetime. We cannot wait for fans to have the chance to do so as well," said J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay in the statement.

The ensemble cast of the Lord of the Rings series 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.

ALSO READ: My precious! Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series will be the world’s most expensive ever at over R6.68 billion - for just the first season.

ALSO READ: Amazon Studios' Lord of the Rings fantasy drama series will be set during the Second Age and include the island of Númenor.

ALSO READ: Yes my precious, new Lord of the Rings map starts to provide tantalising clues to not just where - but when - Amazon Prime Video's fantasy drama series will be set.

My precious! Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series will be the world’s most expensive ever at over R6.68 billion - for just the first season.

by Thinus Ferreira

The first season of Amazon Prime Video's upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series filmed in New Zealand will cost an eye-watering NZ$488 million to produce, making it the most expensive TV series ever made.

New Zealand's Stuff magazine went to court under its Official Information Act to obtain the agreement that Amazon Studios signed with the New Zealand government.

The agreement reveals that Amazon will spend up to NZ$650 million (R6.68 billion) for the first year of the show, under which it will qualify for an overall 25% discount in the form of a film subsidy of $162 million.

In an interview on The Morning Report on Radio New Zealand, Stuart Nash, the country's economic development minister, said that Amazon's Lord of the Rings "is the most expensive television series ever filmed".

The $650 million - or $488 with the rebate - is just for the first year of production, with the series that is envisioned in the documents to run for five seasons or longer, and that could even lead to spinoff series.

Amazon recently officially ordered a second season and revealed that the first season of Lord of the Rings will have 8 episodes. The first season is set to debut on Amazon Prime Video later in 2021.

Stuff reports that New Zealand's treasure has now actually labelled the Amazon show as "a significant fiscal risk" since the government might end up paying millions back to Amazon Studios should the series run multiple seasons and with subsequent production cost increases happening as what is often the case with premium TV series like Game of Thrones and others.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are the showrunners of the Lord of the Rings series that has a large ensemble cast with filming that is taking place at the Kumeu Film Studios and Auckland Film Studios.

The Lord of the Rings series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, placing it thousands of years before the events in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings films.

The official description so far released by Amazon for the show, states that it will "brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history".

"This epic drama 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."

All the elven fantasy TV news fit to whisper: From Netflix's The Witcher spin-off and possible Harry Potter series to Game of Thrones and Amazon Studios' Númenor-set Lord of the Rings prequel series.

by Thinus Ferreira

The Witcher prequel series on Netflix is casting, Game of Thrones will chronicle a new Westeros war, there will be familiar and new characters like Sauron in Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings series, and the sorting hat might be dusted off to sort a new class in a Harry Potter TV series on HBO Max. 

In an announcement, Netflix said that Jodie Turner-Smith has been cast in the role of Éile in the upcoming series The Witcher: Blood Origin spin-off.

This limited, 6-episode, live-action series is set "in an elven world" 1 200 years before the events depicted in The Witcher, which is busy filming its second season in the United Kingdom with Henry Cavill in the lead role as Geralt of Rivia.

According to Netflix, The Witcher: Blood Origin will "tell a story lost to time – the creation of the first prototype Witcher, and the events that lead to the pivotal 'conjunction of the spheres', when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one".

Netflix's character description states that Jodie Turner-Smith will "play Éile, an elite warrior blessed with the voice of a goddess, who has left her clan and position as Queen’s guardian to follow her heart as a nomadic musician. A grand reckoning on the continent forces her to return to the way of the blade in her quest for vengeance and redemption".

Declan de Barra serves as executive producer and showrunner of The Witcher: Blood Origin with Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, creator of The Witcher series, as executive producer, together with Tomek Baginski and Jarek Sawko from Platige Films.

Besides this limited spin-off, Netflix is also working on an animated film titled The Witcher: Nightmare Of The Wolf, that will tell the origin story of Geralt’s Witcher mentor Vesemir.

More Hogwarts and Westeros

As the video streaming wars continue to ramp up and studios are scouring their intellectual property catalogues that they could potentially build out into new content to set them apart and lure viewers, the Hollywood trades are reporting that WarnerMedia executives, in early discussions, are thinking about developing a live-action Harry Potter TV series for its HBO Max video streaming service.

In an official statement, Warner Bros. and HBO Max say that "there is no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform".

Obviously, this statement is technically true - a series isn't in actual "development" - but it is only true insofar as everything that Professor Albus Dumbledore ever said to Harry Potter was technically true, although it wasn't at times all of the truth that was available.

According to the Hollywood reports, HBO Max and WarnerMedia execs have been and are talking about the possibility of developing a Harry Potter TV series and they see "expanding the world of Harry Potter as a top priority", similar to the way in which HBO's Game of Thrones fantasy series is being expanded with several prequel spin-off series.

Besides the already-announced House of the Dragon series that will debut in 2022 and that will chronicle the start of Westeros' Targaryen civil war, HBO is now also developing a George R.R. Martin Game of Thrones spinoff book series as a new Tales of Dunk and Egg TV series.

This spinoff drama series, with hour-long episodes and set 90 years before the existing TV series, will revolve around the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall (known as Dunk) and a very young Aegon V Targaryen (known as Egg).

HBO Max is not available in South Africa or sub-Saharan Africa and WarnerMedia doesn't want to talk about a possible launch date for the country or the continent.

However, last week Christina Sulebakk, the boss of WarnerMedia's HBO Max for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, announced her senior executive team specifically for this region - a strong indication that HBO Max will eventually make its way to South Africa similar to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.

A Sauron origin story

Amazon Prime Video has released an official description for the New Zealand-filmed Lord of the Rings prequel TV series, confirming that it will be set during the Second Age of Middle-earth, will include the island of Númenor and the elf-capital Lindon as locations, and that viewers will see "characters, both familiar and new" which means a young Sauron.

The as-yet-untitled Lord of the Rings series, the world's new most expensive TV series ever, is only expected to be released on Amazon Prime Video in late-2021, or during 2022 with Amazon that hasn't given a definite release date yet. 

While the prequel series takes place thousands of years before the events depicted in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films and books, several of the inhabitants of this world have long lifespans like the dwarfs who live for several centuries and elves who are immortal. 

According to Amazon Prime Video's new official synopsis for the series, "Amazon Studios' forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history".

"This epic drama 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."

The Second Age is of course when Sauron rose to power and corrupted the human leaders living on Númenor, leading to the fall of the Nine Kings. 

The series cast includes Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge and Morfydd Clark as a young Galadriel.

ALSO READ: Amazon Studios' Lord of the Rings fantasy drama series will be set during the Second Age and include the island of Númenor.

ALSO READ: Netflix commissions The Witcher fantasy spin-off with a 6-episode prequel series The Witcher: Blood Origin set 1 200 years earlier during the Elven civilisation.

Coronavirus: Amazon shuts down production on Love Island France in Cape Town, Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.

by Thinus Ferreira

Amazon Studios has abruptly shut down production of the French version of the Love Island reality show, Love Island: France that was filmed in Cape Town in South Africadue to the rapid spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus, while it has also indefinitely shuttered production on its Lord of the Rings prequel series in New Zealand produced by GSR Productions.

"Following the announcement by the South African president that the country is now in a state of disaster Amazon Studios's production of Love Island: France will end early," ITV Studios France says in a statement, producing the show for Amazon Studios.

"The health and safety of the production team, the contestants and all people involved is our utmost priority, so we have ended production on this season now."

The final episode will become available on Monday night with viewers who will be able to vote for their favourite couple, with the results that will be announced online.

Meanwhile the Lord of the Rings prequel series produced by GSR Productions for Amazon Studios and its Amazon Prime Video streaming service also shut down, according to The New Zealand Herald.

The production staff of over 800 people gearing up to film the first season of the show in West Auckland have been told "there are no clear answers to when we will resume production".

Staffers were told "not report to the set or to the studio without the express permission of your supervisor".

MultiChoice warned DStv subscribers that the Covid-19 coronavirus is negatively impacting TV programming and that "We are starting to see the effect of the pandemic", while the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) on Monday announced that it's cancelling the 14th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) that was set to take place on 27 and 28 March 2020.

The SABC has several local weekday soaps filming daily episodes for its SABC1 and SABC2 channels with casts and crews bigger than 100 people including its just-revived SABC1 YO.TV youth afternoon block; with the same happening for e.tv that runs Scandal! and Rhythm City.

Meanwhile MultiChoice and M-Net have several big ensemble casts in shows as well for its Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and kykNET (DStv 144) channels.

The majority if not all of these local South African weekday soaps are likely to hit the shutdown button this week in order to protect casts and crews, although all of them have some week's padding with about a month's episodes already in the can as a reserve.

M-Net (DStv 101) will very likely have to postpone the filming and change the island location of its upcoming 8th Survivor SA: Immunity Island season, produced by Afrokaans, that was set to broadcast in September, while Rapid Blue will likely implement changes for the second season finale and "Women Tell All" episodes of The Bachelor SA.

Questions are swirling around the latest 16th season of Idols, produced by [SIC] Entertainment, and how it will continue given that the show has a contestant and crew complement of over 100 people.

SABC and Danie Odendaal Productions will likely be forced to cancel the upcoming 20th anniversary celebrations and viewers' competition for its longrunning 7de Laan Afrikaans weekday soap.

Toothless? Hairy? Wrinkled? A stocky mean-looking biker? This upcoming fantasy series is desperately looking for ugly faces as extras.

If you're extremely short, extremely tall, missing teeth or are toothless, wrinkled, very hairy, have an "androgynous look" or if you're a stocky, mean-looking biker the upcoming new fantasy TV drama series based on The Lord of the Rings that will be filming in New Zealand is looking for you.

The new Amazon Original drama series from Amazon Studios based on J.R.R. Tolkien's famous book series is desperately searching for flawed-faced extras to appear as creatures in the series that will start filming in 2020 for Amazin Prime Video.

New Zealand's casting agencies are now scouring the globe in search of the perfect ugly telegenic faces to bring the many characters of the fantasy series to life.

Only people who are New Zealand residents or who hold a valid New Zealand work visa can apply on the casting agency's www.bgt.nz website.

The expensive, as-yet-untitled 5 seasons series will be set during the Second Age and will include the island and era of Númenor. In the Tolkien mythology, the Second Age was the time period when the Rings of Power - including Sauron's One Ring who himself was still human - came into existence.

Lord of the Rings is produced by Amazon Studios, in co-operation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment and is rumoured to start around 2021. The cost will come in at $1 billion for at least 5 seasons.

On Facebook the casting agency says that the series is looking for short people - shorter than 5 foot (1.5 m), people taller than6 foot 5 (1.9 m), "character faces, wrinkles and lots of them please", androgynous men and women, "hairy, hairy people of all ages and ethnicities", tall, long lithe dancers, circus performers who can juggle and stilt walk, as well as "stocky, mean-looking bikers.

Eurasian people of all ages, Hispanic people (Latino, Mexican and South American) as well as "red heads - all ages, shapes and sizes" are called to apply.

"If you have natural red hair, white hair and lots and lots of freckles" the casting agency is looking for you - most likely to play an elf or hobbit extra.

Meanwhile Amazon Studios announced that Morfydd Clark, currently in HBO's fantasy series His Dark Materials on Showmax, was cast in the role of a young Galadriel. Cate Blanchett played the character in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film series.

Yes my precious, new Lord of the Rings map starts to provide tantalising clues to not just where - but when - Amazon Prime Video's fantasy drama series will be set.

Tantalising new clues are emerging not just about the setting, but the time period, of not just where but when the big-budget Lord of the Rings fantasy drama series of Amazon Prime Video will take place.

Amazon Prime Video has provided a map - literally - for where the series will be set that will likely follow the conclusion of Game of Thrones seen on M-Net as the next big, premium, must-watch global fantasy TV series.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, pic.twitter.com/unJj1Bpde1

— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 15, 2019

After Amazon Prime Video published the Lord of the Rings map of Middle-Earth to indicate the upcoming setting, experts in Tolkien-lore were lightning-quick to point out that the map shows Middle-Earth after the War of Wrath, "since Beleriand isn't on it".

Like an Earth map showing Czechoslovakia, or Greenland without ice as a desert, can be used to place it in a specific era in the planet's history or future, the Middle-Earth map strongly indicates that the Amazon series will take place in the Second or Third Age.

The tweet also mentioned the three rings for Elves. They were made by Celebrimbor for Galadriel and Gil-Galad and were later worn by Cirdan, Elrond and Gandalf.

Could it be that the series will show the story of how the rings were forged and got to be, as happened partially into the Second Age, or Sauron before his fall into darkness?

What is known so far is that the series will be set before the events depicted in the Lord of the Rings films.

Lord of the Rings will be produced by Amazon Studios, in co-operation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment and is rumoured to start around 2021. The cost will come in at $1 billion for at least 5 seasons.

TV NEWS ROUND-UP. Today's interesting TV stories to read from TVwithThinus - 6 April 2018.

Here's the latest news about TV that I read and that you should read too:

■ The BBC admits that it it faked the treehouse scenes from its series Human Planet and that a Papua New Guinea tribe building tree houses were staged for the programme makers.

■ The Hollywood Reporter asks if CNN in America, stuck in 3rd place in the TV news channel ratings, should CNN abandon its food fight formula?" that doesn't leave viewers better informed.


■ After MultiChoice dumped the Glow TV channel, the Glow TV boss Nazeer Noormohamed of Nis Media tells TVSA he thinks its because MultiChoice is on the side of Zee TV with links to the Gupta family.

■ Inside Amazon's massive $250 million Lord of the Rings TV series deal that's not just TV's most expensive TV series ever, but also "the most complicated deal I've ever seen".

■ Insanity: Iranian TV can't cope with the Italian soccer club Roma's iconic badge and censor-blurred it because it features a wolf's teats.

■ Science fiction is taking over television - what was once "geek TV" is now being watched by everbody.

■ The Westonarea police arrested an idiot who stole an unassembled TV stand - complete with shopping trolley.

■ The streaming service that Formula 1 wanted to launch is a mess with the initial roll-out that is being postponed.

■ It's not just e.tv's breakfast show, Sunrise, that has problems - Australia's Sunrise morning show is blasted as "commercial TV at its worst".

Amazon signs multi-season contract for new Lord of the Rings fantasy TV series to be produced by Amazon Studios for Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon has closed the deal and signed a multi-season contract for a Lord of the Rings TV series for Amazon Prime Video, negotiations of which first leaked last week.

Amazon wanted a big fantasy TV series tentpole like Game of Thrones and now has one that will be produced by Amazon Studios, in co-operation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

"The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen," says Sharon Tal Yguado, head of scripted series at Amazon Studios in a statement.

"We are honoured to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth."

The Lord of the Rings TV series, set in Middle Earth, will explore new storylines set before J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring.

"We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for The Lord of the Rings," says Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins.

"Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings."

Amazon Studios and Warner Bros. Television in discussions to create a Lord of the Rings TV series for Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon Studios and Warner Bros. Television are in discussions to create a Lord of the Rings TV series for Amazon Prime Video.

Neither Amazon Studios nor Warner Bros. Television wants to talk about it or respond to media enquiries.

Amazon's Jeff Bezos recently demanded more high-brow, premium looking TV series for its video-on-demand service.