After many weeks of rumors, Lord of the Rings is officially back! Amazon has paid an absurd amount of cash (around $250 million) for the rights to the series, beating out both Netflix and HBO for the series. And that's not all - the budget for each season is likely to be around 100 million dollars. Basically, it's a blockbuster film budget for one season, in the range of Game of Thrones. Amazon Studios' Head of Scripted Series, Sharon Yguado, said: “The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen. We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth.” All indications so far point to a prequel, likely covering some of the material from Tolkein's wider Middle Earth mythology, including the Silmarillion, which included its own cosmology, Gods, theology and myths. In other words, this has the potential to be a genuinely great expansion on the film universe, as long as it avoids retreading material that has been done in the films. I'm not sure anyone is looking for a new recast of their favorite characters, like Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/NBrisbon/status/930148040597483520]] Yet, it always makes one nervous to have a new series come out in an old legendary franchise. The Hobbit films were widely considered to be a step down from the original trilogy, featuring less compelling writing, some very questionable pacing, and a lack of central focus. After all, a series of films called The Hobbit ended up not being about Bilbo Baggins much at all. The original trilogy is still a classic, featuring some of the most insanely grand moments in film history, all under the stewardship of director Peter Jackson: Still, Hollywood seems overly dependent on old ideas. Surely there must be a lot more fantasy series from the history of the 20th century worth adapting into films and series. The collected works of Ursula Le Guin, William Gibson, and Gene Wolf alone provide enough films to last for decades. Why the constant retreading of Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones... Culture is just too repetitive right now. The most popular show right now, Stranger Things 2, also relies on 80s nostalgia. Everywhere, there's a turn to the past - and the recent past, at that. It all seems a bit much. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/neontaster/status/930145815926108161]] Still, I will likely be tuning into this series at some point. We've all forgotten the Ralph Bakshi animated Lord of the Rings films, but they were not terrible at all. Could this series end up the same way? Could it overshadow the Peter Jackson trilogy? Unlikely. But there's a lot on Amazon's plate right now, so expectations must be met! In other television news, you can read about why the last season of Game of Thrones was not quite as good as any of the others.

Amazon is developing a huge multiplayer Lord of the Rings game in conjunction with Athlon Games, it has been announced.

The game is described as "a free-to-play massively multiplayer online" set in Middle-earth and is soon coming to PCs and consoles. It will be based on J.R.R. Tolkien's original books as opposed to Peter Jackson's movie trilogy.

"Tolkien's Middle-earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers - from the same studio developing New World - tremendous opportunity to play and create," Amazon Game Studios VP Christoph Hartmann said in a statement.

Check out this deleted scene from The Two Towers:

[[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/i1o7wDW2-Q0L14jDU.mp4||i1o7wDW2]]

The new game will also be entirely unrelated to Lord of the Rings Online, the MMO that debuted in 2007.

It is also believed that it will be set in the Second Age, preceding the events which took place in The Hobbit and the LOTR.

With their ambitious live-action Lord of the Rings TV series underway, it was only a matter of time before the gaming division at Amazon started working on a new MMO.

Reportedly costing a staggering $1 billion, the series will begin shooting in just a few months, with a studio in Scotland having been selected as the main set.

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"Lord of the Rings producers are hoping to start filming at the new studio from about August to November," a TV industry source told the Daily Record. "A lot of arrangements are already in place. All that remains now is for it to be up and running in time - so the clock is ticking. It's anticipated production will return for another three months from next March (2020). There could be more after that. It's a massive contract and a gigantic boost for the studio and for Scotland."

Amazon is yet to announce a name or release date for the game.

It's been many years since the Hobbit trilogy of films wrapped up, and since then, it almost feels as though Middle-Earth has been all but forgotten in popular culture. However, the good news is that Amazon Prime is planning on launching a TV series based on the works of J.R.R Tolkien, which will return to the fantasy world of myth and legend.

In a recent video documentary entitled 'Meet our Fellowship', LOTR fans were given the chance to meet the production company's main team, with one of the researchers revealing how many episodes we can expect for season one. 

Take a look at this rare deleted scene from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 

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Commenting on the upcoming series, Tolkien expert Tom Shippey stated: "Logically, you try to bundle all the scenes that take place in one location and film them so that you have it done and don’t have to return to that place several times."

He continued: "But this also implies that everything has to be clear at the start of filming, you have to know the end. There’s supposed to be 20 episodes for the first season. So, until they’ve decided what the end is going to be, they can’t start filming."

Shippey also added that the Tolkien estate is participating in preproduction, ensuring that the television adaptation is as faithful to the books as possible. Shippey stated: "The Tolkien Estate keeps a very careful eye on everything and is quite capable of saying 'no.' They retain a veto over everything that concerns Tolkien."

Check out the Meet the Fellowship video below: 

[[youtubewidget||https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHYj-_sk00M]]

It's not yet known what the exact plot of the show will be, but many have speculated that it will draw from the Silmarillion: Tolkien's history of the elvish race in the first and second age and the War of the Simarils fought against Morgoth.

The highly anticipated Lord Of The Rings prequel series has finally been given a title and release date.

In a dramatic new teaser trailer, Amazon Prime Video announced that the show will be titled The Rings Of Power and hit screens on September 2, 2022.

Amazon has previously said that the series will bring together the events of Tolkien's second age, including the forging of the iconic rings, Sky News reports.

Check out the new trailer below:

The suspenseful teaser doesn't give much away, but there is a dramatic voiceover reciting how the rings of power were created in a verse familiar to Lord Of The Rings fans.

Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay said in a press release that the title was something they "imagine could live on the spine of a book next to JRR Tolkien's other classics."

"The Rings Of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth's Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Numenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.

"Until now, audiences have only seen on-screen the story of the One Ring - but before there was one, there were many... and we're excited to share the epic story of them all," they added.

Filming for season one wrapped last year in New Zealand, where Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were produced. Production for the second installment has now moved to the UK.

The teaser trailer has sent fans into a tizzy, with many taking to social media to express their excitement over the new series.

"LET'S GO!! THE RINGS OF POWER!" tweeted one excited fan.

"Been waiting 5 years this," wrote another.

"I think I'm actually gonna faint," added a third.

Other fans were more hesitant, expressing their concern that the series wouldn't live up to the original franchise.

"If this show isn’t good….I’m going to make it everyone’s problem," wrote one.

"If this show ends up being awful I'm going to riot !!!" added another.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video on 2 September 2022.

Featured Image Credit: AA Film Archive / Alamy

We've known for some time that Amazon Prime is planning on launching a TV series based on the works of J.R.R Tolkien, which will take fans of the acclaimed fantasy series back to the world of Middle Earth.

Now the creators have shared the cast-list for the 20-episode-long first season. In a statement made on the show's official Twitter account, Amazon tweeted: "A grand journey is defined by its travelers. Meet the first members of our fellowship. #LOTRonPrime. A THREAD. [sic]"
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The current cast line-up includes Game of Thrones actors Robert Aramayo, who played a young version of Ned Stark, and Joseph Mawle, who portrayed Jon Snow's uncle Benjen Stark.
Other actors include Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, and Ema Horvath, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin,  Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman, and Sophia Nomvete. Check out some headshots of the cast below:

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Commenting on their casting decision in a statement made to Entertainment Weekly, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay said: "After undertaking an extensive global search, we are delighted finally to reveal the first group of brilliant performers who will take part in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series."

They added: "These exceptionally talented women and men are more than just our actors: they are the newest members of an ever-expanding creative family that is now working tirelessly to bring Middle-earth to life anew for fans and audiences worldwide."

Watch the trailer for Fellowship of the Ring right here: 

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In a recent video documentary entitled 'Meet our Fellowship', LOTR fans were given the chance to meet the production company's main team, with one of the researchers discussing Amazon's plans for season one.