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Amazon is making a huge push into fantasy TV, led by an eyebrow-raisingly ambitious television adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings novels, which of course were already adapted into director Peter Jackson’s blockbuster film trilogy. Here’s everything we know so far about Amazon’s forthcoming Lord of the Rings series.

In May, multiple sources at Amazon Studios reportedly told Tolkien fan site TheOneRing.net, which broke the news, that the first season of the forthcoming series will center on a younger Aragorn, the future King of the Reunited Kingdom, who was played by Viggo Mortensen in Jackson’s film series.

In a following Twitter thread, TheOneRing.net also speculated that the television adaptation will not retell the events of the War of the Ring explored in the Peter film series, but will rather draw from The Lord of the Rings Appendices published alongside The Return of the King, the final volume of Tolkien’s novels.

Firstly, we must stamp out any remaining confusion:From the first press release, we know this so-called #LOTR series will NOT be a retelling of the events of the War of the Ring. #BeenThereDoneThatInstead it will be Appendices based and cover a lot of time and history. /2 — TheOneRing.net (@theoneringnet) May 16, 2018

In November 2017, Amazon reportedly paid $250 million for the rights to a The Lord of the Rings series, which, when produced, could sport a $1-billion price tag. The deal was struck by the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien, publisher HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, and came with a multi-season commitment, said to be good for five seasons, and a potential spinoff, as THR reported at the time.

THR also reported this April that Amazon Studios had outbid streaming rival Netflix to close the $250-million deal, which stipulates that Amazon must be in production on a Lord of the Rings series within two years. The deal also permits the series to use footage from the New Line films.

Amazon head Jeff Bezos was personally involved in making the deal happen, having told since-ousted Amazon Studios head Roy Price last September to create the next Game of Thrones. Price quit the company the following month, before the deal went public, after allegations of sexual misconduct. Two other embattled Hollywood execs, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, were profit participants on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, having owned the Tolkien film rights through Miramax before they were sold to New Line in 1998, but it does not seem likely that they will claim profits on the forthcoming series.

Jennifer Salke, who took over as Amazon Studios head in June, revealed a few intriguing tidbits about the company’s Lord of the Rings series in a Deadline interview. She revealed that Amazon was currently working on “one big series,” rather than multiple, and that she was currently in talks with Peter Jackson about his possible involvement in the forthcoming series.

When asked about whether the series will feature the same characters as the films, Salke said, “I think you can know that we’re not remaking the movies, but we’re also not starting from scratch. So, it’ll be characters you love.” At the time, Salke also said she was in talks with Jackson and the Tolkien estate in order to set writers for the series.

Salke was also asked about whether the series would return to the New Zealand sets constructed for Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. “I think we might be in New Zealand. I don’t know, but we’re going to have to go somewhere interesting that could provide those locations in a really authentic way, because we want it to look incredible,” she responded.

The following month, John D. Payne and Patrick McKay, who also wrote the forthcoming Star Trek 4, were announced as showrunners to write and develop the series, also per Deadline.

Under the terms of its deal, Amazon Studios must go into production on its Lord of the Rings series within two years. Another June interview with Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke, this one with THR, also provided more details about when we can expect the series to hit airwaves. In the interview, Salke revealed that “2021 is the hope,” although “there are other people who wish it was 2020.”

In mid-February, Amazon revealed their Lord of the Rings series’ social media handles (@LOTRonPrime on Twitter and Instagram), as well as its unmarked world map, which you can explore (and download) below.

Explore the map: https://t.co/z9WOqI9Seo — The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 15, 2019

As of the map’s unveiling, the series was still without a timetable for launch.

Amazon revealed in early July that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona has been tapped to direct the series’ first two episodes in addition to executive producing alongside his producing partner Belén Atienza.

Casting began shortly after Bayona signed on, with Markella Kavenagh, Will Poulter and Joseph Mawle coming aboard in key roles over the next few months. Though Amazon hasn’t revealed any official details of their characters, it’s reported that Kavenagh and Poulter are playing two lead characters named Tyra and Beldor, respectively, with Mawle as a villain named Oren.

With the cast coming together, preproduction on the series is ongoing, with shooting set to begin in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020.

Amazon renewed the series for a second season in mid-November.

In January, Amazon confirmed the series’ main cast, which includes: Robert Aramayo, Mawle, Kavenagh, Morfydd Clark, Ema Horvath, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman. Poulter reportedly dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. Maxim Baldry then joined the cast in early March.

Keep your Sauron-like eye trained on this space for further updates.