Amazon Studios Reveals the Name of their Lord Of The Rings Series

A little late to the game on this one, but as a die hard fan of The Lord of The Rings movies and books, I'm ashamed that I missed this yesterday, almost like how Bilbo almost missed his chance to ride with the Dwarves to the Lonely Mountain. 

"You shall be called..."

Yesterday, Amazon Studios released a sort of teaser for their upcoming Lord Of The Rings series, that revealed the name of the series! The teaser shows the One Ring being forged, as the Black Speech text slowly appears on the gold ring. Crazy enough, the trailer was not CGI'd (go watch it). Then of course at the end it is revealed that the name of the upcoming series will be called The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power. 

What's the series about?  

"Things that are, and things that were, and something, that have not yet come to pass." But really, the series will take place WAY before Bilbo ever got the ring, THOUSANDS of years before Smeagol killed his cousin to get the ring. What we learn in the first Lord Of The Rings movie The Fellowship of the Ring, is that there was a forging of "The Great Rings," and as Galadriel tells us: Three were given to the Elves, seven to the Dwarf Lords, and nine were given to the race of Men, and then Sauron decided to forge his own ring, to create a master ring. This series will help us understand why these rings were made and why they chose certain carriers to wield them. 

According to a release from Amazon Studios: "{The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power} 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."

The series will introduce us to characters we know from previous films, and characters we haven't met yet as they "...  confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth." Viewers will join these characters on their journeys to the Misty Mountains, to the Elves in Lindon, Numenor the kingdom of the Dunedain, and more. 

The first season was filmed in New Zealand, so we can expect to get the same vibe that both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings gave us. The showrunners, JD Payne and Patrick McKay, have both collaborated on screenplays such as Star Trek Beyond, and Disney's Jungle Cruise and I can honestly say, I only recognize one person from the cast. Unfortunately, Peter Jackson has confirmed that he won't be involved in this series, but there are people within the crew ie costume designers, set designers, fight coordinators, and make-up artists who were involved with either Lord Of The Rings or The Hobbit that will be helping with this series. And before you ask - Yes! Weta Workshop is involved as well. 

What's next?

The series is already slated for a second season, and I'll admit as a fan of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, I'm nervous and I really hope, like they have said, that this series will feel like it's a part of the films. I am excited to head back to Middle-Earth again and feel that sense of adventure and I'm excited to learn more about these characters we haven't learned about yet in the films and see just how The Lord Of The Rings came to be. 

To watch the series you can view it on Amazon Prime, starting September 2 of this year. The episodes will be released weekly, with eight episodes slated to air in the first season.