‘The Lord of the Rings’ Prequel: The Writers’ Room Is So Secretive That Windows Are Taped Closed and Fingerprints Are Required
The Lord of the Rings is one of the most successful franchises. Its popularity is up there with the Harry Potter series and Game of Thrones. With its success and influence in pop culture, almost everyone knows a thing or two about the beloved show.
But that’s not stopping Amazon from keeping it one of its closely guarded secrets. Amazon Studios’ head got candid about The Lord of the Rings prequel and revealed the lengths they are willing to go to ensure the show’s secrecy is maintained.
Amazon greenlit the prequel even before the first one wrapped up
Amazon acquired the rights to The Lord of the Rings in 2017 that included a multi-seasonal deal of the show and possible spinoffs. Deadline announced that the studio had greenlit the show for the second season in 2019.
The studio said in a press release on Aug 2 that The Lord of the Rings will premiere on Sept 2, 2022, and confirmed that the show’s first season wrapped up filming in New Zealand. The show’s freshman season is still in post-production and will end in June 2022.
Pre-production for the second season will begin in Jan 2022. Although the first season was filmed in New Zealand, viewers will see a change in season 2 as showrunners announced that filming would be moved to the United Kingdom. Publications reported that the location change is most likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Production of the first series was delayed due to the pandemic, and when filming resumed, the actors and crew had to remain in New Zealand for a long time. With many of the show’s cast and crew members being English, this meant that they had to be separated from their families for a long time. Moving production back to the UK will allow the production team to be close to their families.
The ‘Lord of the Rings’ writers’ room is very secretive
Television shows like maintaining an air of secrecy to ensure no spoilers get out to the public before airing, and Amazon understands that. The studio has upped their security intensely, with Amazon Studios Chief Jennifer Salke revealing how far they have gone to keep the show’s contents a secret.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Salke offered details about the secrecy with The Lord of the Rings writers room, saying, “There’s a fantastic writers room working under lock and key. They’re already generating really exciting material. They’re down in Santa Monica.”
Salke continued saying, “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 show’s casting choice has made it hard for fans to surmise who plays who
Ever since Amazon announced its acquisition of the series and production, fans have clung to every little information offered by Amazon regarding the show. Although the studio has been economical with its details regarding the plot, they revealed that the show would be set during the Second Age of Middle Earth.
This then places the show at 1000 years before the events of The Hobbit ruling out human characters in the series like Aragorn. The studio has promised the show’s fans that they will see “both familiar and new” characters but are yet to confirm any returning cast members leaving room for speculation as to who will appear in the series and who will play what. They have also hired many producers to oversee the smooth running of the show.
