The Lord of the Rings Amazon series sets release date and releases first image

Kieran Galpin

The Lord of the Rings universe is expanding

Lord of the Rings is one of the most beloved franchises of all time, and it is about to get a new addition to the family. It has been announced that Amazon’s upcoming Lord and the Rings series will premier on September 2 2022. Though the show is yet to be titled, the show promises familiar faces from the franchise.

The show will release weekly on Prime Video, streaming worldwide from the outset.

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, who both worked on Star Trek Beyond, are set to bring an original take to the Middle-earth universe. “As Bilbo says, ‘Now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey.’ Living and breathing Middle-earth these many months has been the adventure of a lifetime. We cannot wait for fans to have the chance to do so as well,” said Payne and McKay.”

The show will reportedly be set in the “Second Age” which preceeds the original franchise by several thousand years.

“Beginning in a time of relative peace, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth,” reads the official release statement.

“A world-renowned literary work, and winner of the International Fantasy Award and Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, The Lord of the Rings was named Amazon customers’ favourite book of the millennium in 1999 and Britain’s best-loved novel of all time in BBC’s The Big Read in 2003. The Lord of the Rings books has been translated into around 40 languages and has sold more than 150 million copies.

“Headlining this ensemble cast are Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.”