One of the many reasons we love 'Lord of the Rings' is for its atmosphere. The artistry of the sets and the magnificence of the landscapes are not the result of CGI, and it shows. Peter Jackson's trilogy managed to transport us to Middle Earth hand in hand with Gandalf the Grey, make us feel like part of the Fellowship of the Ring and suffer the journey to Mordor alongside Frodo and Sam. The reason it was all so easy? Middle Earth exists - in New Zealand. This is why the showrunners of the new Amazon series, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, have decided to use these sets once more.
Amazon taking on such a huge project has generated conflicting sentiments amongst fans ever since it was announced. However, bit by bit the series has found its way into our hearts, finally managing to convince us yesterday with this tweet of a New Zealand flag.
This flag brings with it the peaceful Shire, the gates of Rivendell guarded by elves in Kaitoke Park, the waterfalls on which they forged the community in Arthur's Pass. According to the press, the preproduction team has already moved to the New Zealand city of Auckland, where they'll be based for the coming months. This decision is surprising given that they have literally settled down on the opposite point of the Northern Island to Lake Wairarapa, which is where Peter Jackson currently resides. Perhaps they want to distance themselves from the old story, although the director has appeared to be quite receptive to the new Amazon project, which doesn't take him by surprise.
"I'm not involved in the 'Lord of the Rings' series," Jackson confirmed to Metro magazine, but "I believe that they're going to send me various scripts to see if we can help them out. I wish them the best, and if we can help, then we are going to try. It's a hard task."
The Second Age
Maybe the biggest reason behind the acceptance of this project was the decision to locate it within a time distinct from that of Ian McKellen's Gandalf or Orlando Bloom's Legolas, characters that existed in the Third Age. The exact point during which the story is set is still unknown, but according to officials: "We are looking for the places to which we can give life to the beauty of Middle Earth during its Second Age; we know that we need to find locations with pristine and majestic coasts, forests and mountains".
It will be the most expensive story ever created, with a budget of close to one billion dollars. Certainly, the future seems to offer an ambitious vision of the uncertain past of J.R.R. Tolkien's universe, when there was no Frodo Baggins or Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur...but surely, the new series will come with great adventures, as well as characters ready to face them.
