Slowly but surely, Amazon’s version of Middle-earth is taking shape. Just, y’know, maybe more at Entmoot pace than Shire village meeting pace.
Amazon’s spent months and months (and months) slowly trickling out snippets of information about its still-untitled Lord of the Rings prequel series, from mysterious cast lists to synopses that essentially already confirmed things we’d learned from equally cryptic maps first teased what feels like an elven lifetime ago. And now, we have the latest: the series has tapped Doctor Who and Preacher director Wayne Che Yip to come aboard.
[referenced id=”1664263″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2021/01/amazons-lord-of-the-rings-show-is-about-the-return-of-sauron/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/14/yhrguennc598g5orkgah-300×169.png” title=”Amazon’s Lord of the Rings Show Is About the Return of Sauron” excerpt=”Through scraps of information and even a bit of cartography, we’ve long been able to get a general gist of what Amazon’s massive new Lord of the Rings series is going to be about. But now the company has revealed the first official story details for the series, confirming what…”]
Yip — already part of the Amazon fantasy family, having directed some episodes of the upcoming Wheel of Time series for the streamer — is taking over from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s J.A. Bayona, who directed the first two episodes of the series. Yip will direct four episodes of the show, as well as co-executive produce.
And…that’s it! That’s all you’re getting for now, because Amazon is playing a long and cryptic game with the slow progress it’s making over in Middle-earth. Naturally, part of this is going to be not just the hurdles of trying to create a show with as vast a scope as Lord of the Rings, but the tribulations and hurdles that come with filming amid a global pandemic (even if New Zealand is perhaps one of the safest places to do it so far). Add in the high expectations and anticipation a name like Lord of the Rings brings, and it makes sense that the studio wants to keep its secrets, and we just have to be all right with that.
We’ll bring you more on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings, no matter how small, as and when we learn it. After all, even the smallest things can change the course of the future.
[referenced id=”1672599″ url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2021/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about-lord-of-the-rings-second-age/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/17/pt8jqea4xrhy0zohwyog-300×169.png” title=”Everything You Need to Know About Lord of the Rings’ Second Age” excerpt=”Even though we first learned about it in 2017, we barely know anything about Amazon’s plans for its Lord of the Rings series. One thing we do know — other than that a bucketload of talent is running all around New Zealand to make it — is that it’s set…”]