6 fun facts on the show Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power

14/10/2022

The show Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power is finally available on Amazon Prime Video. Eagerly-awaited by the fans since it’s acquisition by the industry giant in 2017, the enormous production is a prequel for Peter Jackson trilogy and recounts Middle-earth’s Second Age. Here are 6 fun facts about this visual and narrative gem.

The most expensive show ever
The most expensive show ever

1 billion dollars. It’s the budget dedicated to The Rings of Power, making it the most expensive show ever created in television history. Amazon spent a tidy sum of 715 million dollars to finance the show’s first season, of which 250 millions were used to buy the copyrights for Tolkien’s work. A huge amount of money justified by the impressive visuals and breathtaking settings making us feel like we’re looking at a painting. This colossal budget dethrones Game of Thrones and its 500 millions of dollars used in the making of its eight seasons.

High security measures to prevent leaks
High security measures to prevent leaks

With very huge means invested in the show, Amazon used every means possible to prevent any leak, as it was already the case for Game of Thrones. In order to keep everything secret for Tolkien’s fans, serious security measures were put in place. According to Amazon Studios boss, the rooms where the writers work are highly secured: “You have to go through such clearance, and they have all their windows taped closed. And there’s a security guard that sits outside, and you have to have a fingerprint to get in there, because their whole board is up on a thing of the whole season.”

The release date was chosen to pay tribute to Tolkien
Th release date was chosen to pay tribute to Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power released its first episode on September 2nd 2022. Beyond the idea to release the show at the beginning of the school year for commercial purposes, it is also a symbolic date for the creator of the Middle-earth universe since it is Tolkien’s death anniversary. In fact, the Lord of The Rings author died on September 2nd 1973, that is to say 49 years ago. A very nice tribute to the father of modern fantasy!

The show’s first season took one year to shoot
The show’s first season took one year to shoot

Apart from its colossal budget, Amazon Studios wanted to make this huge project by shooting the show The Rings of Power in the only place with landscapes worthy of Middle-earth : New Zealand. Just as Peter Jackson with its trigologies Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the production team decided to put down their cameras onto the “Land of the long white cloud” (Aoterearoa in Maori). The only drawback was that the shoot happened between 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic which considerably delayed production for several months.

Actors were exempted from New Zealand closing borders
Actors were exempted from New Zealand closing borders

During the pandemic, several countries decided to close their borders like New Zealand. However, some privileged people benefited from an exemption to get in the country. Amongst the seven productions that were allowed, the cast and crew of The Rings of Power were authorized to enter New Zealand. Unfortunately, for logistical reasons, Amazon decided to move the shooting to the UK for the second season of The Rings of Power. A hard blow for the Oceanian country that highly benefited from tourism.

Two Game of Thrones actors are in the show
Two Game of Thrones actors are in the show

The two huge productions The Rings of Power and Game of Thrones have more similarities than we may think. There are two actors from the HBO show that made their way onto The Rings of Power’s first season. As a matter of fact, Roberto Aramayo, who plays Elrond, was a young Ned Stark during Game of Thrones’ last season. As for Adar, leader of the Orcs in the Southlands, he is played by Joseph Mawle, also known as Benjen Stark in the adaptation of the saga A song of Ice and Fire.

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