The Rings of Power Season 3 Begins Filming

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has begun filming its third (and possible final) season in the UK. The news comes with news of casting Andrew Richardson (Ponies), Zubin Varla (Andor), and Adam Young (Masters of the Air). No information was revealed on their roles. Considering the series is VFX heavy, that would indicate the release date for the season is at least a year away and that is the optimistic estimate.

The Hunt for Gollum Release Moved to December 17, 2027

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is getting bumped a year from its preliminary release plan. The original release plan was to aim for December 2026 but according to director Andy Serkis, its now been moved to December 17, 2027.

He told The Direct, "We are right at the beginning of the writing process. We will be prepping later this year. Prep takes a good chunk of time, six or seven months, and then we will be shooting next year. So, it backs into that December 2027 release date."

Now we know why updates on this movie have been light. Hard to plan specifics when don't have a script to work from. The rumored goal is to bring actors back from the Lord of the Rings films where appropriate for the story but who knows if that will be possible in a year or so from now. 

Update: Date finally became official. The Hunt for Gollum is aiming for a December 17, 2027 release date. 

The Rings of Power Renewed for Season 3

After its feet way longer than expected, Prime Video have announced that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been renewed for season 3 with preproduction starting. Not entirely clear but it seems production has moved yet again to Shepperton Studios in the United Kingdom so suspect lot of the delay was discussions with the showrunner on how to cut the budget for the show. 

As for the story, not much was revealed except there will be a time jump with the description saying “Jumping forward several years from the events of season 2, season 3 takes place at the height of the War of the Elves and Sauron, as the Dark Lord seeks to craft the One Ring that will give him the edge he needs to win the war and conquer all Middle-earth at last.”

The five year plan is said to be in place but that description makes you wonder if they condensed that plan to just one or two more seasons as all indications are the ratings for the show are lower than Amazon was seeking. Technically the entire show is nothing but time compression considering its covering the Second Age with events spanning thousands of years so a time jump isn't as dramatic as it would be for most shows especially since I am sure they still plan on using the same human characters and their limited lifespans so maybe looking at ten or so years at most. The end game for the series remains the end of the Second Age, as shown at the very beginning of The Lord of the Rings trilogy with the defeat of Sauron.