Amazon Studios gained the rights to produce a minimum of five seasons of a “Lord of the Rings” series in November 2017. The Oscar-winning films and The Hobbit Film trilogy were well accepted by fans. Now they will get the chance to watch more of their favourite J.R.R. Tolkien characters on the small screen.

Due to the sheer volume of story material on Middle Earth in the Tolkien book series, Amazon could be approaching their new series from any number of directions. The following covers what we know so far.

‘Lord of the Rings’ TV series

The release date for the new series is currently unknown, but under the new $250 million deal, Amazon will need to begin production on the series within the next two years.

This means production is likely to start this year. So far, Amazon has committed to streaming at least five seasons of the new “Lord of the Rings” series.

According to a report by Radio Times, Amazon will focus on unexplored back stories and narratives from Tolkien’s books, so as not to tread on the toes of the film franchise. TheOneRing.net reports that the first season of the series will cover the story of Aragorn, who was played by Viggo Mortensen in the films. It will also cover a ranger named Strider, who will form part of the iconic Fellowship of the Ring, those who gathered together to assist Frodo Baggins with his task of returning the One Ring to Mount Doom.

As for the rest of the seasons, it is currently unknown which portion of Middle Earth’s history will be covered.

As for the showrunner for the series, Peter Jackson has already confirmed he will not be involved in the new series.

He told Allocine that he understands why his name came up, but he has nothing to do with the project. It will reportedly be “Star Trek 4” writers Patrick McKay and JD Payne. When the writers were appointed, they released a joint statement to say they are “absolutely thrilled” to work with Amazon to bring the story back to life.

Casting for ‘Lord of the Rings’ series

As yet there is no news of who will appear in the new Amazon series. However, in an interview with Graham Norton in December 2017, Ian McKellen, who played the role of Gandalf in all the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” films has expressed interest in appearing. He told Norton he hadn’t been asked but did point out jokingly that the character is more than 7,000 years of age, so he is definitely not too old for the role.

Setting for the new Amazon series

Amazon has been tweeting online Middle Earth maps since February this year. Over several tweets, the maps are gradually being filled in with the first message saying “I wisely started with a map.”

From there on, Amazon posted various quotes from the books, describing the rings of power.

Here is the latest Middle Earth map.

As each part of the map continues to be filled in, Amazon appears to be building up for a major revelation about the series. Readers can head to the Amazon website to view the map in more detail. IGN News confirms in the video below that the series will cover the Second Age, prior to the time of the “Lord of the Rings” films.
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