The big new trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power looks very good indeed

A brand new teaser and synopsis have just dropped for Amazon's £700 million The Lord of the Rings spin-off, sub-titled The Rings of Power, and woah: those of you who've eagerly awaited a return to Middle-earth (ie. everyone) will not be disappointed. They've spared no expense with one, judging by the trailer, which runs at two minutes thirty-one seconds and gives us our best look yet at the return to J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastical world. Game of Thrones who?

And here's the full new synopsis, per Amazon:

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

Here's everything else we know about the upcoming The Lord Of The Rings prequel series…

Two years after acquiring the rights to bring JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth to life, cameras finally rolled in February 2020, with alumni from HBO’s once-in-a-generation hit on board on both sides of the camera to help pull the show together. 

Filming reportedly wrapped in December 2021, and during this year's Super Bowl, we were finally treated to a glimpse of the world inhabited by Amazon's biggest show to date. Unsurprisingly, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power looks pretty colossal.

The company could reportedly spend close to £700 million on the series – the rights alone cost £190m and a five-series production commitment has been made, with the first series alone apparently costing approximately £328m. This blows Netflix’s The Crown and Apple’s The Morning Show out of the water to become the most expensive series ever produced.

It’s Amazon’s biggest gamble yet in the streaming wars, as it continues to face stiff competition for subscribers from Netflix and relative-newcomers Disney and Apple. Whether or not it pays off, it’s yet another indication that the TV boom is far from slowing down...

Who stars in the series?

Game Of Thrones alumnus Robert Aramayo will play the as-yet-unknown lead, a role he won at the death after Midsommar’s Will Poulter pulled out in December 2019 due to scheduling conflicts. He’s joined by GOT costar Joseph Mawle and Spartacus lead Cynthia Addai-Robinson. 

Sir Lenny Henry will also be appearing, while a slew of up-and-coming British actors including Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi and Morfydd Clark are also part of the project. Tom Budge, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman rounded out the initial cast list and Amelie Child-Villiers, Charles Edwards, Will Fletcher and newcomer Beau Cassidy were added in mid-2021 to complete the 39-strong ensemble cast.

Casting calls were also put out in New Zealand for extras with “wonderful noses” and “character faces”. They were also keen to cast people under 4ft 9in and over 6ft 4in – you know, hobbit-y, wizard-y types.

What is the new Lord Of The Rings series about?

The plot of the new series is still being kept under lock and key. Currently, we know it will be a prequel to The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings, set in Middle-earth’s second age, thousands of years before Frodo and his pals set off for Mount Doom. The official synopsis explains that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power “will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.” Quite a bit going on, then.

This means it is unlikely that we’ll see any of the characters from the films. A pity, as Sir Ian McKellen has expressed an interest in returning to the role of Gandalf the Grey.

It also means, however, that a younger, less-towered Sauron is set to play an integral part in the plot. There had been earlier speculation that the show will track the rise of the jewellery fiend and villain of the original book series, but the time period, along with the newly-revealed show name and mildly-thrilling official synopsis, points to Sauron featuring heavily.

“It’s not a remaking of the movies and it’s not a whole new thing,” Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke told Variety. “It’s something in between. It’s not ‘Oh, it’s Lord Of The Rings but you don’t recognise anything in it’, but it’s not totally familiar to you either. So it’s original.”

What to expect from the new series?

Amazon has put together an impressive creative team for the show, made up of Star Trek 4 scribes JD Payne and Patrick McKay, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director JA Bayona and, yep, Game Of Thrones writer and executive producer Bryan Cogman.

On top of this, the writers’ room features talent from some of the greatest shows of the past 20 years, including The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Stranger Things.

With the financial might of Amazon behind them, we have no reason to expect anything less than excellence from this series. Production is returning to New Zealand, where Peter Jackson’s original trilogy and follow-up Hobbit series were filmed, so it seems inevitable that we’ll see some similarly majestic landscapes. Filming for season two, however, has been moved to the UK, so while New Zealand’s economy is the real winner in season one, expect to see a raft of LotR billboards and government-backed ad campaigns with MPs wearing big grey hats when the time comes. 

When will The Lord Of The Rings series be released?

Earlier this year, a suitably-dramatic announcement video ended months of radio silence to give us a name and release date for the series. The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power is scheduled to be released on Amazon Prime Video on September 2, 2022.