UPDATE: January 16, 2020

We have learned there will be a maximum of 8 episodes in the first season. The full cast was announced a few days ago. You can see the full list Internet Movie Database (link opens in a new browser tab).

UPDATE: July 3, 2019

We’ve now learned that Amazon concluded a major production agreement with New Zealand, but they will also do some filming in Scotland. Concerns over Brexit appear to have tipped the scales in Scotland’s favor.

And Juan Antonio Barona will direct the first two epsiodes. See comments below for links.

News about Amazon’s upcoming Middle-earth production has been scarce since they announced “Welcome to the Second Age!” on Twitter and other social media accounts a few months ago. Some Websites continue to report the original “young Aragorn” concept but it looks like nearly everyone is now on board with the Second Age concept.

When the Daily Telegraph interviewed me for their May 31, 2019 article about the show they asked me to confirm that the Second Age is rich with Tolkien’s own story lines and to speculate on which I think would be most promising. My speculations about potential story lines are not informed by any inside information but I can easily think of five stories Tolkien himself devised that would be good fodder for a television show.

The Daily Telegraph article implies the show may be struggling. The recent addition of Bryan Cogman as a consultant fueled speculation across the world about the directions Amazon might take with Middle-earth. Will it be bloodier than Peter Jackson’s movies, in the gory sense that Game of Thrones was? I don’t know, but Tolkien’s portrayal of the Second Age is hardly an idyllic walk through the willow-meads of Tasarinan. There are events of wholesale slaughter, the rise of the Nazgûl, the burning of Eriador’s great southern forests in Minhiriath, the loss of the Ent-wives, and the Downfall of Númenor. Amazon won’t have to reach far to come up with gore and anyone who claims they got it from George R.R. Martin won’t have read Tolkien.

All that aside, the latest news I have seen is that Amazon has nearly finished negotiating a contract to use the new film studio in Edinburgh’s Port of Leith. According to the Daily Record they are just finalizing the agreement now.

The show may premier on Amazon in 2021. Production will run for 5 years, will include studio filming and location filming throughout Scotland, and may include some footage from New Zealand. I am guessing they might want to film in some of the Peter Jackson locations to maintain a sort of visual continuity with his Middle-earth landscape (perhaps rivers and mountains). If the Amazon production is faithful to Tolkien’s timeline there won’t be any Shire and no Hobbits in Eriador (but they could be encountered elsewhere as primitive people much farther east).

As numerous media sites have already mentioned, the studio was previously used for some work on “Avengers: Infinity War” but it has undergone new renovation or construction. There are five sound stages and more facilities. The studio is owned by Creative Scotland and is located at 31 Bath Road in the Port of Leith, according to the BBC and other sources. The facility was previously used as a warehouse for the Leith docks.

Who Will Be in the LoTROnPrime TV Show?

No cast members have yet been announced that I can see. I’ve seen a couple of names attached to the production but I’m not confident enough to share them. I think these may be social connections with no real involvement with the show. Sorry, but I’m just not ready to rumor monger you into a frenzy. (NOTE: I’m not referring to Sir Ian McKellen, who has expressed interest in reprising his role as Gandalf.)

On the other hand, there was a casting call earlier this year that caught my attention. Someone in the United Kingdom was looking for people with interesting physical characteristics “for a fantasy TV show” to be filmed this fall in Scotland. I could not confirm whose show it was, but based on the casting call’s requirements I deduced it’s either NOT for Outlander or they are going to radically change the show.

In an online discussion where people were guessing at when and where casting would begin for the show, someone who appeared to have experience as an extra on television shows suggested that casting work should have been well under way by now (sometime in May) in order to meet an August or September production schedule. I’m not involved in the film and TV industry and if anyone with experience would like to comment on that, please feel free to do so below.

IMDB is still listing Patrick McKay and John D. Payne as the show runners.

It’s almost guaranteed they’ll be using animators of some type (which would explain, probably, why the show may not premier for at least a year after principal filming concludes). After all, a lot of shows are now turning to CGI teams to create detailed backdrops for their worlds. No matter how much location film-work is actually done, they’ll need animators and may already have hired some.

Amazon Showed a Teaser Reel in April

In April 2019 Amazon Prime showed a concept reel at Series Mania. You can read what little I was able to learn about it in this forum discussion at SF-Fandom.

Is Xenite.Org Going to Carry Spy Reports?

Well, honestly, I stay very busy with other projects. If you would like to drop comments here you’re welcome but I cannot vet them. I suggest you submit tips to either TheOneRing.Net or Middle-earth News. I know Cliff Broadway (Quickbeam) has been talking up the show on his podcast and if you have news I’m sure he’d love if you tagged him on Twitter.

As I hear things, if I don’t see other sites covering them, I’ll round up the news and rumors for you when I can. Expect me when you see me in that respect.