The clock has struck and the SAG-AFTRA actor’s union has voted to join the WGA on the picket line after talks once again failed to meet in the middle with studio executives, who so far have taken a rather callous approach to the entire situation. This means an unprecedented, historical shockwave across all of Hollywood, with upwards of 160,000 performers now set to stop working indefinitely until changes are made.
Of course, this leaves audiences everywhere wondering the fate of some of the biggest projects in film and television right now, among them Amazon’s ongoing fantasy Tolkien-inspired series Rings of Power. The pricey production of the second season has been well underway, and according to a report from Variety, that production has since wrapped ahead of the SAG strike, averting a crisis that meanwhile stands to hit the rest of Hollywood.
Related: Lord of the Rings: What Do the Rings of Power Actually Do?
The Rings of Power series, which is set thousands of years before J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and the subsequent Lord of the Rings novels, debuted its first season last year on Prime Video to incredible viewership anticipation, breaking records for the streaming platform with a staggering 25 million viewers watching the first two episodes across the globe the first 24 hours of release. While it went on to become Prime Video’s most watched series ever, the reception towards the end of the season diluted somewhat in response to the direction of certain writing choices in connection to Tolkien’s original source content.
However, that definitely hasn’t stopped the series and the minds behind it from going full steam ahead, with up to five seasons in the works. Both showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay remain at the helm of the studio’s most expensive show to date, with the first season having an astronomical $462 million budget, more than double HBO’s House of the Dragon budget for its first season at $150-200 milllion, and that of Amazon’s other big-budget series The Citadel, which was deemed a critical failure.
There’s no telling what price tag the second season of Rings of Power has, particularly given its on-set crises such as a costly fire and the unfortunate death of a horse, and the stakes will be just as high if not greater, with the burning question of how viewership will greet the next part of the series. It will most likely be up to the charismatic rivalry between Sauron (Charlie Vickers) and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) to carry things forward on-screen and through the second age of Middle Earth, at least until Peter Jackson (fingers crossed) and Warner Bros bring their new batch of Lord of the Rings films to life.
Rings of Power Staying On Track With Season 2
Prime Video
While the rest of Hollywood is reeling from today’s dramatic turn in the ongoing industry-wide strike, the clock is ticking for many productions across the country at various stages at development. For Rings of Power, however, the proverbial bullet has been dodged, as Variety noted that filming wrapped on the second season weeks ago. This also likely means that the projected release date, while not publicly announced yet, will also not be moved from 2024.
However, when it comes to the subsequent three seasons planned by the studio, there’s no telling when things will move forward once again after the release of season two. Now with writers and actors all walking off the lot, it’s quite possible that season three could face significant delays.
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