Amazon’s highest profile and potentially most expensive TV project to date, The Lord of The Rings prequel TV series, has been kept under a tight shroud of secrecy. During a presentation at the 2019 TCA Summer Press Tour, the studio officially announced the full creative team set to bring Middle Earth to the small screen.
Thus far, Amazon has drip-fed production updates. J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were previously announced as showrunners and executive producers and J.A. Bayona (Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom), is confirmed to direct the first two episodes and serve as executive producer. The showrunners recently made their first casting choice in Markella Kavenagh.
Ahead of their TCA presentation, the studio released the full list for The Lord of The Rings creative team:
Executive producers Lindsey Weber (10 Cloverfield Lane), Bruce Richmond (Game of Thrones), Gene Kelly (Boardwalk Empire) and Sharon Tal Yguado; writer/executive producer Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad); writer/executive producer Jason Cahill (The Sopranos) writer/executive producer Justin Doble (Stranger Things); consulting producers Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones) and Stephany Folsom (Toy Story 4); producer Ron Ames (The Aviator); writer/co-producer Helen Shang (Hannibal), and writing consultant Glenise Mullins.
Also: costume designer Kate Hawley (Suicide Squad); Academy Award-winning production designer Rick Heinrichs (Star Wars: The Last Jedi); Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Jason Smith (The Revenant); Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey; and renowned illustrator/concept artist John Howe.
Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, had little else to reveal about the series other than that they’ll soon announce the shooting location. In an Amazon brand sizzle reel before the presentation, a brief glimpse of a map of Middle Earth appeared.
The prequel series is set within the second age of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings universe, when the Ring of Power came into existence, well before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. The series is poised to be one of the most expensive in television history. Amazon shelled out $250 million to acquire the rights for a spinoff set in the sprawling world of Tolkien’s fantasy epic. The studio committed to five seasons and is expected to cost upwards of $1 billion to make.
