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Update: March 7, 2019
Amazon Confirms the Setting Will Be the Second Age for LORD OF THE RINGS TV Series
As author J.R.R. Tolkien once said of writing his Middle-earthian books, “I wisely started with a map.” So, over the past couple of weeks, Amazon too started promoting its forthcoming The Lord of the Rings series by releasing a series of maps. While they sparked a lively debate from fans about what they all mean for the series, the time period setting is now confirmed.
“Welcome to the Second Age,” Amazon tweeted on Thursday morning.
A long-standing theory posited the series would focus on a younger Aragorn, played in Peter Jackson’s films by Viggo Mortensen. However, that character, the future ruler of Gondor, was born during the Third Age. So we can nix that rumor right now.
The Second Age is also known as “The Age of Númenor.” Fans will notice that, in the most recently updated map for the Amazon fantasy epic, the island of Númenor is shown in the bottom left corner.
It’s not yet clear whether Númenor will serve as a major setting for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings, though its presence already answers some questions.
Númenor is considered a mythic lost city of men in the world of Middle-earth, one established on an island in the Great Sea that had been destroyed for thousands of years by the time of Frodo and Aragorn. In The Second Age, according to Tolkien lore, it was said that the island was brought up from the ocean as a gift to men by the Valar (the gods of Middle-earth). The kingdom would later fall after they defy the laws of the deities.
The Second Age also sees the development of the Elven City of Rivendell, the Dark Lord Sauron famously forging the dark Ring of Power, and the races of elves, men, and dwarves all uniting to fight him for the first. The period spans about 3,441 years, so there’s a lot of ground to potentially cover.
JD Payne and Patrick McKay will serve as showrunners for this reportedly costly fantasy epic after their work on Star Trek 4 and Jungle Cruise. Casting is still under wraps for the moment.
https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/07/lord-of-the-rings-series-second-age-amazon/
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Update: July 28, 2018
Star Trek 4 Duo JD Payne & Patrick McKay to Develop LORD OF THE RINGS TV Series
Amazon has found its Lord of the Rings duo. Following an extensive search, Amazon Studios has tapped JD Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek 4, Jungle Cruise) to develop its forthcoming big-budget take on Lord of the Rings.
Jennifer Salke, who made the announcement Saturday during her debut as head of Amazon Studios at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, stopped short of saying Payne and McKay would serve as writers or showrunners.
"The rich world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity," longtime friends and writing partners Payne and McKay said in a joint statement. "We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Amazon to bring it to life anew. We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care — it is the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime.”
McKay and Payne met on the debate team in high school more than two decades ago. They wrote Paramount's Star Trek 4 for producer J.J. Abrams and adapted Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt feature Jungle Cruise for Disney. The duo also set up their original 2017 Blacklist drama script Escape with Oscar-nominated producer Mike DeLuca.
Amazon, now overseen by new head of TV and film Jennifer Salke, landed global rights to the Lord of the Rings series for the small screen in November 2017 in what sources estimated was a deal worth $250 million with the Tolkien estate. Under the terms of the pact, a Lord of the Rings series must be in production within two years. When casting, set building and visual effects are factored in, the LOTR deal is expected to tally more than $1 billion.
The mega-deal is said to be for five seasons plus a potential spinoff. Amazon previously described the LOTR series as being set in Middle-Earth and exploring new storylines preceding Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. Amazon will produce in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and Warner Bros. Entertainment's New Line.
'Lord of the Rings': Amazon Taps 'Star Trek 4' Duo JD Payne and Patrick McKay to Develop TV Series
Amazon Confirms the Setting Will Be the Second Age for LORD OF THE RINGS TV Series

As author J.R.R. Tolkien once said of writing his Middle-earthian books, “I wisely started with a map.” So, over the past couple of weeks, Amazon too started promoting its forthcoming The Lord of the Rings series by releasing a series of maps. While they sparked a lively debate from fans about what they all mean for the series, the time period setting is now confirmed.
“Welcome to the Second Age,” Amazon tweeted on Thursday morning.
A long-standing theory posited the series would focus on a younger Aragorn, played in Peter Jackson’s films by Viggo Mortensen. However, that character, the future ruler of Gondor, was born during the Third Age. So we can nix that rumor right now.
The Second Age is also known as “The Age of Númenor.” Fans will notice that, in the most recently updated map for the Amazon fantasy epic, the island of Númenor is shown in the bottom left corner.
It’s not yet clear whether Númenor will serve as a major setting for Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings, though its presence already answers some questions.
Númenor is considered a mythic lost city of men in the world of Middle-earth, one established on an island in the Great Sea that had been destroyed for thousands of years by the time of Frodo and Aragorn. In The Second Age, according to Tolkien lore, it was said that the island was brought up from the ocean as a gift to men by the Valar (the gods of Middle-earth). The kingdom would later fall after they defy the laws of the deities.
The Second Age also sees the development of the Elven City of Rivendell, the Dark Lord Sauron famously forging the dark Ring of Power, and the races of elves, men, and dwarves all uniting to fight him for the first. The period spans about 3,441 years, so there’s a lot of ground to potentially cover.
JD Payne and Patrick McKay will serve as showrunners for this reportedly costly fantasy epic after their work on Star Trek 4 and Jungle Cruise. Casting is still under wraps for the moment.
https://ew.com/tv/2019/03/07/lord-of-the-rings-series-second-age-amazon/
_____________________________________________________
Update: July 28, 2018
Star Trek 4 Duo JD Payne & Patrick McKay to Develop LORD OF THE RINGS TV Series

Amazon has found its Lord of the Rings duo. Following an extensive search, Amazon Studios has tapped JD Payne and Patrick McKay (Star Trek 4, Jungle Cruise) to develop its forthcoming big-budget take on Lord of the Rings.
Jennifer Salke, who made the announcement Saturday during her debut as head of Amazon Studios at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, stopped short of saying Payne and McKay would serve as writers or showrunners.
"The rich world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is filled with majesty and heart, wisdom and complexity," longtime friends and writing partners Payne and McKay said in a joint statement. "We are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Amazon to bring it to life anew. We feel like Frodo, setting out from the Shire, with a great responsibility in our care — it is the beginning of the adventure of a lifetime.”
McKay and Payne met on the debate team in high school more than two decades ago. They wrote Paramount's Star Trek 4 for producer J.J. Abrams and adapted Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt feature Jungle Cruise for Disney. The duo also set up their original 2017 Blacklist drama script Escape with Oscar-nominated producer Mike DeLuca.
Amazon, now overseen by new head of TV and film Jennifer Salke, landed global rights to the Lord of the Rings series for the small screen in November 2017 in what sources estimated was a deal worth $250 million with the Tolkien estate. Under the terms of the pact, a Lord of the Rings series must be in production within two years. When casting, set building and visual effects are factored in, the LOTR deal is expected to tally more than $1 billion.
The mega-deal is said to be for five seasons plus a potential spinoff. Amazon previously described the LOTR series as being set in Middle-Earth and exploring new storylines preceding Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. Amazon will produce in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and Warner Bros. Entertainment's New Line.
'Lord of the Rings': Amazon Taps 'Star Trek 4' Duo JD Payne and Patrick McKay to Develop TV Series