Rings Of Power Season 2 Star Teases LOTR Villain’s Return & Attack Scene
Summary
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powershowrunners reveal the real reason why production moved away from New Zealand for season 2. Based on the source material from J.R.R. Tolkien, Prime Video’s hit fantasy series released in 2022, chronicling Galadriel’s (Morfydd Clark) fight against the rise of evil in Middle-earth during the second age. As with Peter Jackson’s beloved trilogy, season 1 was filmed in New Zealand, butThe Rings of Powerseason 2, which premieres later this month, made the controversial decision to move production to the U.K.
In a recent interview withGQ, the real reasons behindThe Rings of Power’s move out of New Zealand are revealed. According to showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne,New Zealand’s strict COVID-19 protocols played a role, as it simply became unfeasible to mount such a large production there. Secondly, Amazon was, at the time, expanding its production capabilities in the U.K. According to the showrunners, however, this move to the U.K. ultimately made the show feel closer to Tolkien’s own vision. Check out Payne and McKay’s comments below:
Payne: “Amazon was building out its production apparatus here in the UK and it’s one of their largest shows. They wanted to bring it all under the same roof.”
McKay: “We’re shooting in Windsor Great Park with trees that are a thousand years old that he might well have looked at and written about. It’s a different landscape, a different weather pattern. And all of that feeds into the kind of Middle-earth that is even closer to the one that readers might imagine in the books.”
The Rings Of Power Season 1 Ending Explained (In Detail)
Rings of Power season 1’s ending gave a lot of answers, from who Sauron was to who fell from the sky and the unveiling of the titular jewelry.
How Much Will Rings Of Power’s Move Out Of New Zealand Affect The Show?
Why The Lord Of The Rings Series Might Not Look All That Different
One of the biggest effects ofThe Rings of Power’s move out of New Zealand will, of course, be on the nation itself. A production as large asPrime Video’sLord of the Ringsshow would obviously have created a lot of jobs in New Zealand and injected a lot of money into the economy. For the show, however, mounting production in the U.K. is obviously easier from a logistical perspective, and evidently cheaper for Amazon.
Lord of the RingscastmemberElijah Wood (Frodo) reacted to the newsofThe Rings of Powerseason 2 leaving New Zealand with a “facepalm” emoji on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In terms of what actually ends up on screen,The Rings of Powerseason 2 is unlikely to look or feel drastically different. New Zealand provided some dramatic backdrops for the action, but season 1 also relied heavily on massive sets and visual effects. While the general geographic makeup of England and New Zealand are obviously very different, the U.K. is not without sweeping plains, forests, and more dramatic hilly regions, all of which could be used for exterior shots and further touched up with VFX.
While New Zealand andThe Lord of the Ringsare very closely connected for many, it’s important to note that this is entirely due to Jackson’s trilogy. Tolkien lived and wrote his Middle-earth books while living in England, so it’s entirely possible that certain landscapes in the U.K. were actually what inspired certain locations from Frodo’s tale. While losing out on New Zealand’s landscapes and skilled tradespeople could be a blow toThe Rings of Powerseason 2, it might be for the best that the show creates its own identity in the U.K., separate from Jackson’s films.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerseason 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 29.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Cast
Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power explores the forging of the iconic rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, and the epic events leading up to the stories in J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novels. The series chronicles the creation of legendary characters and the historic alliances and rivalries that shape the fate of Middle-earth.
