'Lord of the Rings' series set to be most expensive in TV history
Just when we thought that Netflix's The Crown worth $13 million per episode and the Game of Thrones Season 8 worth $90 million for the whole season were the most expensive series we've ever seen, Amazon surprises everyone with the gargantuan amount they will spend on the first season of the Lord of the Rings TV adaptation: a whopping $465 million or Php22.5 billion!
The upcoming Lord of the Rings (LOTR) series is currently filming in New Zealand and will reportedly receive a tax rebate of around $160 million.
News about the multi-season TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR first broke in 2017.
Stars of the 'Lord of the Rings' film series / Source: lordoftheringstrilogy (FB)
Recently, 20 new cast members had joined the highly-anticipated series and its official synopsis has been shared in the LOTR fan website theonering.net.
It reads: “Amazon Studios' forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history.
“This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien's pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
“Beginning in a time of relative peace, 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.
“From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone. “
The map posted on the 'Lord of the Rings' fan website / Source: theonering.net
The LOTR series will reportedly have a minimum of five seasons with eight to ten episodes each.
Included in its huge cast are Morfydd Clark (rumored to portray Galadriel), Lenny Henry, and Maxim Baldry.
Moreover, the two-part pilot of the LOTR series was directed by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director, J.A. Bayona and is currently in post-production.
The series is expected to be released sometime in late 2021.
For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.
You might also want to check out the amazing 'Hobbit Houses' in Lucban Quezon.