Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Filming Schedule Is Even Longer Than the Books

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Filming Schedule Is Even Longer Than the Books

One of the many shows competing to fill the Game of Thrones void is Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series. It’s already making headlines for its half a billion-dollar budget and has flown in a cast of (almost) thousands to New Zealand for filming.

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy sucked fans into the world of Middle-Earth, and it seems the TV show is doing the same thing to the cast and crew – to the point they don’t even know when they can leave.

Lord of the Rings actor has no idea when filming will end

The Lord of the Rings TV series is in the midst of filming right now and has been for some time thanks to New Zealand’s largely COVID-19 safe bubble. But that doesn’t mean filming should just continue… indefinitely.

Lord of the Rings actor Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer) spoke to IndieWire about his involvement with Amazon’s new series.

Walker couldn’t reveal much about the show but he did say they’re still shooting in New Zealand and he really has no idea when that will end.

“It is a bit nebulous at this point. We’ve been here a long time and they’ll let us go when they’re done with us.”

It seems Amazon’s new TV show is staying true to the spirit of Tolkien’s very long book with an equally long shooting schedule.

Production on the Lord of the Rings series is believed to have begun in New Zealand around February 2020.

Yes, there have been a number of COVID-related delays but we’re now in June 2021, a whole 16 months later, and there’s no end in sight. That’s a long schedule, even by Lord of the Rings standards.

It’s not unusual for grand-scale TV series or films like this to have a longer shooting period, but I’m sure the actors would like to go home and see their friends and family at some point. Not to mention, we would like to actually watch the show one day.

Part of the reason could be to do with Amazon’s straight to series order of a second season of Lord of the Rings back in 2019. This early renewal meant that season 2 could be written and prepared straight away, so it’s possible the production is actually trying to be more efficient by filming these seasons back to back.

Despite this arduous schedule, Walker did also say that this is all just part of the deal when it comes to a franchise like this one, and he seems to have no regrets.

“With Tolkien, I was a huge fan as a kid, and still am as an adult. And it was kind of one of those where if you say no you might regret it for the rest of your life.”

Here’s hoping the Lord of the Rings TV series doesn’t take as long to reach our screens as it has to film.