New Zealand loses Lord of the Rings as Amazon moves filming to UK

On Friday, Amazon Studios announced that it will film Season Two of the Rings series in the United Kingdom rather than New Zealand, where the shooting of Season One recently wrapped.

Fans of Middle-earth may not be too miffed about where Amazon Studios shoots its yet-to-be-titled The Lord of the Rings television series. It is a different story for those whose paycheques are tied to bringing JRR Tolkien’s books to life on the big screen. On Friday, Amazon Studios announced that it will film Season Two of its Rings series in the United Kingdom rather than New Zealand, where shooting on Season One recently wrapped. “The shift from New Zealand to the U.K. aligns with the studio’s strategy of expanding its production footprint and investing in studio space across the U.K., with many of Amazon Studios’ tentpole series and films already calling the U.K. home,” Amazon Studios said in a statement.