Lord of the Rings on Amazon Prime: season 2 will no longer be filmed in New Zealand

The cinematographic saga The Lord of the Rings is the battle between good and evil, the quest for Frodo, Middle-earth … but also its settings specific to the New Zealand countryside, filmed with love by Peter Jackson, which have become a place pilgrimage for Tolkien fans. While the first season of the series produced by Amazon Prime Video continued the tradition with filming on the island, the second will be relocated to the United Kingdom, do we learn today.

A decision that the American giant explains by “an expansion strategy in the United Kingdom” where many of its productions are already shot. But this is also purely strategic: due to the pandemic, the stoppage of filming and the country’s strategy to close its borders, the actors and crews were unable to leave New Zealand for almost two years. .

Amazon executives were unable to go there to observe the progress of the shoot. With the cast being predominantly British, moving back to the UK would allow the cast to be closer to their family.

This choice is obviously a shortfall for New Zealand, which relied on this series to boost its attractiveness. Note that of the 660 million New Zealand dollars spent by the platform to shoot on the island, the country undertook to reimburse 25% (figures which have been reduced to 20% following this relocation).

It remains to be seen whether this change of scenery makes sense in history. Little is known about this serial Lord of the Rings other than that it will begin in a time of relative peace. It follows a set of characters, both familiar and new, as they face the dreaded re-emergence of evil on Middle-earth.

From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elven capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the far reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that will endure long afterward. that they are gone.

The shooting of the first season has just been completed: it should be in post-production until June 2022 for a launch in September 2022. The production of the second season should begin in January 2022.

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