There is news about the Lord of the Rings Amazon series “The Rings of Power” in the form of a first trailer – but it doesn’t reveal much at first.
Frankfurt/Berlin – Important film trailers are traditionally released on Super Bowl Sunday. Not only Eminem’s kneeling caused a stir: on Sunday (02/13/22) Amazon published a long-awaited first teaser of its series “The Rings of Power”, which was announced for September 2022. For 60 seconds you can see dwarves, elves and all sorts of other magical figures running across the screen – but those who thought they were learning something groundbreaking about the content of the series were happy too soon.
A bit of background can be gleaned from the series’ description on Amazon Video: “Starting in a time of relative peace, we follow various characters as they confront the resurgence of evil in Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of Lindon and the Isles of Númenor, to the farthest corners of the map, these kingdoms and characters will leave a legacy that will live on forever.”
Amazon teases the new Lord of the Rings series through images
According to Vanity Fair, the series’ plot is not based on a JRR Tolkien novel per se, but rather on the extensive backstory he laid out in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Like The Lord of the Rings, it is set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, albeit several thousand years before the events of the first volume. The series is speculated to cover the events detailed in the novel’s prologue.
In 2017, Amazon secured the rights to television adaptations of the Lord of the Rings series. Plans for the series were already being made and fans have been wanting more for a long time: Since the start of shooting, photos from the set have been posted time and again, the title was revealed in a spectacular 60-second video and 23 headless character posters were published.
Is Amazon breaking records with budget for new Lord of the Rings series?
In any case, what raises expectations is probably the budget. Amazon doesn’t want to make any official statements about it, but according to Vanity Fair, the New Zealand government has estimated the production costs at $462 million for the first season alone, in addition to the money for the rights. This also includes the cost of building the infrastructure that will be used in later seasons. This would make “The Rings of Power” the most expensive series production to date, ahead of “Game of Thrones”. Vanity Fair sees the reason for such a high budget in the Lord of the Rings obsession of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is one of the richest people in the world.
Fans’ opinions of the series vary widely on social media. While a user on Instagram writes under the trailer: “Definitely makes you want more! Interest is aroused,” another is less convinced: “Somehow it looks very forced to do a bit of fantasy.” It’s probably a matter of waiting until September 2nd – from then on the series can be seen on Amazon. (Monja Stolz with material from dpa)
Rubriklistenbild: © Courtesy of Prime Video/Amazon Studios
