Last month, Amazon announced the main cast of its hotly anticipated Lord of the Rings prequel series, which includes Game of Thrones alums Robert Aramayo and Joseph Mawle. Set during the period titled the Second Age, the series is expected to explore conflicts with Númenor as well as the creation of the rings of power. When can we expect this series to drop on Amazon Prime? Though that will certainly take a while, our recent investigation suggests filming for the fantasy series will begin as early as next week.

Members of the cast and crew have already convened in New Zealand, where the original Lord of the Rings trilogy was shot and where Amazon will conduct the first portion of filming for the show, which will cover the first two episodes. Following the wrap in New Zealand, filming enter a short hiatus. Presumably, Amazon will use the hiatus to assess the first two episodes (similar to a TV pilot) and make revisions to the scripts if necessary.

A Facebook post by a horse-owner suggests filming will begin this coming Monday, February 10. The poster is the owner of a horse named Ruby, which will be filming in Riverhead (near Auckland) next week, and this is where the Kumeu Film Studios are located. Our investigations suggest that this will be the production headquarters of Lord of the Rings in New Zealand. This also marks the second time we’ve heard of filming beginning in February.

Throughout the past week, many crew members arrived on location to prepare for the upcoming shoot. Director Juan Antonio Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), who is in charge of the first two episodes, has also checked in from Auckland, NZ. One interesting picture from the studio shows a massive green screen built opposite of some sort of pool. It’s possible this will be used for scenes involving ships or boats at sea.

With filming starting soon, Amazon is looking for many (many) extras. One recent posting suggests they are still looking for “thousands” of characters and faces “of all sorts”. If you happen to live nearby or don’t mind traveling far for a chance to appear in the show, you can send an email to the production via the address mentioned above (recruitment@kamtalent.com). If you are selected as an extra, make sure to contact us as well and tell us of your experience. Needless to say, your anonymity is guaranteed.

Other than the crew, several cast members have arrived to New Zealand ahead of filming. This includes stars Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland) and Ismael Cruz Cordova (Ray Donovan) as well as relative newcomers Sophia Nomvete and Megan Richards.

Not long ago, Redanian Intelligence has revealed that Spartacus alum Simon Merrells has joined the cast in an undisclosed recurring role. Take a look at the article below for the details, and follow our non-Witcher twitter account for further production updates on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings.

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