Amazon Reveals Creative Team Behind Lord Of The Rings Series

Fans of Middle-Earth have chomping at the bit to return to the fantasy world ever since Amazon announced a series adaptation for the groundbreaking Lord of the Rings series and the streaming service revealed at the Television Critics Association press tour this week the creative team bringing the world to life once again.

Juan Antonio (J.A.) Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, The Orphanage, The Impossible) will direct the first two episodes of Amazon Studios’ The Lord of the Rings TV series and also executive produce alongside his producing partner Belén Atienza. JD Payne and Patrick McKay are writing the series, with Emmy-winner Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones) on board as a consultant and Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad) making up a part of the writers’ room as well.

“This team is our Fellowship — assembled from around the world, all walking the road together to try and accomplish something far greater than any of us could on our own. We feel humbled and extremely lucky to be surrounded by such inspiring and talented women and men,” McKay and Payne said in a joint statement.

Below is the full list of crew currently attached for the series adaptation:

Executive producers Lindsey Weber (10 Cloverfield Lane), Bruce Richmond (Game of Thrones), Gene Kelly (Boardwalk Empire) and Amazon’s former head of genre Sharon Tal Yguado
Writer/executive producers Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad), Jason Cahill (The Sopranos) and Justin Doble (Stranger Things)
Consulting producers Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones) and Stephany Folsom (Toy Story 4)
Producer Ron Ames (The Aviator)
Writer/co-producer Helen Shang (Hannibal)
Writing consultant Glenise Mullins.
Costume designer Kate Hawley (Suicide Squad)
Production designer Rick Heinrichs (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)
Visual effects supervisor Jason Smith (The Revenant)
Tolkien scholar Tom Shippe
Illustrator/concept artist John Howe

“As our journey into middle-earth begins, we are in excellent hands with J.D. and Patrick at the helm, with this incredible team of talent that they’ve assembled,” Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement. “The depth and breadth of the experience of this writing and production team is truly awesome, with a real respect for and knowledge of Tolkien lore. We’re so happy to have them on board and to see this exciting series start to come to life.”

The highly-anticipated Lord of the Rings series will be set in the Second Age, Amazon recently confirmed. That places approximately 3,000 years of history between the series and the beginning of The Lord of the Rings. Casual fans may not realize it, but Jackson’s Fellowship of the Rings actually depicted the end of the Second Age, when the last alliance of elves and men confronted Sauron’s forces. The Second Age covered nearly 3,441 years, and it began after the banishment of Morgoth, the dark lord before Sauron. There’s a lot of story potential in that time, including the rise of Sauron, the creation of the One Ring, and the emergence of the Ringwraiths.

Buy the Lord of the Rings films here.

The rights to the fan-favorite fantasy series were acquired by Amazon last year and is expected to be the most expensive television series ever made, rumored figures for both the television rights and production costs for the entire series are in the $500 million range.

The Lord of the Rings series is produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema.

Production is set to begin in 2020 for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series and is expected to premiere in 2021.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.