We all know Amazon is making a Lord of the Rings series and the interwebs are loaded with new, speculation, lists, “facts” and details about the show. Many of these are mere speculation and nothing more than rumors.

So what do we know about this new Lord of the Rings series? Let’s seperate fact from rumor and go through the things we REALLY know about this new series, and you’ll be surprised at how little it is.

1. We are getting a Lord of the Rings series. This at least we know for a fact. The announcement was made back in November 2017 when Amazon Studios acquired the global franchise rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings books (not the Silmarillion) and announced their commitment to developing a massive, multi-season TV show that would explore Tolkien’s Middle-earth before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring.

“We are delighted that Amazon, with its longstanding commitment to literature, is the home of the first-ever multi-season television series for ‘The Lord of the Rings,’” said Matt Galsor, a representative for the Tolkien Estate and Trust and HarperCollins. “Sharon and the team at Amazon Studios have exceptional ideas to bring to the screen previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s original writings.”

2. There is an active Twitter account dropping clues on what we can expect. follow it here: https://twitter.com/LOTRonPrime. One of the biggest clues it gave this far is the below map. Conclusions made from from this is mere speculation, but we can with relative certainty say it will take place in the Second Age. This is due to the inclusion of Numenor and the removal of Mordor (as well as Barad-Dur)

It seems that the Lord of the Rings TV show may focus on the forging of the Rings of Power, considering the fact that Amazon started promoting the Lord of the Rings TV show by quoting lines from the Ring Verse as well as the Rings being created during that time period.

3. Writing duo JD Payne and Patrick McKay are heading the project, with Game of Thrones writer and co-executive producer Bryan Cogman helping oversee the lore.

4. Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in all six of the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit films, has expressed his interest in reprising his role for the TV series — sort of. During an interview on Graham Norton’s BBC radio show back in December 2017, Norton asked whether McKellen would be annoyed to see another actor playing Gandalf.

“What do you mean, another Gandalf?,” McKellen responded, before adding: “I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it? Gandalf is over 7,000 years old, so I’m not too old.”

This is it. We know nothing more. The below are all speculation…

  1. Whether development has actually started.
  2. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV show is expected to release in 2021. A specific release date hasn’t been set for the Lord of the Rings TV show yet, but considering that Amazon Studios’ contractual agreement with the Tolkien Estate indicates that the Lord of the Rings TV show must go into production latest by 2020, it makes sense that Amazon is planning for a 2021 release.
  3. A $250 million deal was struck. There is no confirmation of this anywhere.
  4. Amazon has committed to 5 seasons, there is also no real evidence supporting this.