Amazon Prime Video's The Rings of Power renewed for season 3 with big time jump planned to midst of the War of the Elves

by Thinus Ferreira

Amazon MGM Studios has officially renewed The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for a third season with a major time jump that will occur placing the story at the height of the War of the Elves.

Filming of the third season of the Tolkien show will start in a few months at Shepperton Studios in the United Kingdom.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues to captivate audiences worldwide, and we're thrilled that a third season is underway," says Vernon Sanders, head of television at Amazon MGM Studios.

"The creative team has an extraordinary vision of what's to come with stories that have left us enchanted and enthralled. We look forward to continuing this epic journey, for our global customers, delving even deeper into the legendary tales that shaped Middle-earth."

"Jumping forward several years from the events of season 2, season 3 takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war and conquer all Middle-earth at last," Amazon MGM Studios says.

The third season is currently in pre-production.

In the sprawling The Lord of the Rings saga, the War of the Elves took place during J.R.R. Tolkien's Second Age which marked the first big battle against Sauron.

In its press release, Amazon Prime Video says the third season will have three directors, two returning and one new: Charlotte Brändström, Sanaa Hamri, and Stefan Schwartz.

Charlotte Brändström, who served as co-executive producer and directed multiple episodes in the first two seasons returns as executive producer and director for the third season.

She is joined by returning director Sanaa Hamri, who helmed several episodes in season two, and veteran director Stefan Schwartz, marking his first involvement with the series. Each director will oversee multiple episodes in the upcoming season.

According to Amazon Prime Video the first season remains the biggest TV premiere in the history of Amazon Prime Video with the second season the most-watched returning season by hours watched.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is produced by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. 

They are joined by executive producers Lindsey Weber, Justin Doble, Kate Hazell, and executive producer-director Charlotte Brändström. 

Matthew Penry-Davey is producer and Ally O'Leary, Tim Keene, and Andrew Lee are co-producers.

'A new legend begins': The first trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

by Thinus Ferreira

Amazon Prime Video has released the first official trailer of its upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power that will debut on 2 September on the video streaming service taking viewers back to Middle Earth in the most expensive TV series to date.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power that is expected to run for at least five seasons and 50 episodes, if not longer, has a first season budget of $465 million and dropped New Zealand for the United Kingdom for the second season that is currently in production.

With the trailer touting "a new legend begins", episodes will debut weekly in 240 territories and countries worldwide, including South Africa and opens with an unseen speaker, saying "Haven't you ever wondered what else is out there? There's wonder in this world beyond our wandering. I can feel it". 

The new one-minute trailer for the sprawling prequel story from Amazon Studios that is set during the Second Age, takes place thousands of years before the events depicted in Peter Jackson's hugely successful The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

The trailer gives viewers a glimpse of younger versions of two familiar Lord of the Rings characters - Galadriel (now portrayed by Morfydd Clark), as well as Elrond (Robert Aramayo). New characters like the dwarven princess Disa (Sophia Nomvete) of Khazad-dûm, as well a skilled silvan elf archer named Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova) also appear in the trailer.

The trailer also shows Halbrand (Charlie Vickers) as a human on a small raft during a massive sea storm, Prince Durin IV (Owain Arthur) of the dwarf realm of Khazad-dûm.

According to Amazon Prime Video the story will begin "in a time of relative peace" and 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".

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.

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