Amazon Renews Its Lord Of The Rings Show For A Second Season With Lightning Speed

In this post-Game of Thrones world of ours, it seems that high fantasy is king and studios are willing to shell out big bucks for series of their own. Today we're learning that Amazon is definitely one of those companies looking to spend, as it has renewed its upcoming Lord of the Rings show for a second season.

In a way, Amazon is following Netflix's lead here, only one-upping its streaming competitor in doing so. Last week, Netflix renewed The Witcher for a second season as well, making the announcement before the first season of the show premieres. Amazon is renewing its Lord of the Rings show before the first season even begins filming, which is definitely a rare sight in the world of television.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke confirmed to Deadline that the company has already given season 2 the go-ahead. Though it seem strange to see Amazon renew the series so early, there are actually a few reasons for it. The company's deal for the TV rights to the Lord of the Rings required a multi-season commitment on Amazon's part, so season 2 was almost a certainty given those terms.

It sounds like Amazon plans to film seasons 1 and 2 at the same time as well – or it's at least mulling such a production schedule. Salke told Deadline that the production team will film the first two episodes of season 1 and then go on a 4-5 month hiatus. During that time, writers will work on the scripts for season 2, potentially allowing for both seasons to be shot back-to-back when filming resumes.

If this shooting method sounds familiar, that's because Peter Jackson used this same approach in filming his Lord of the Rings trilogy. Details on Amazon's Lord of the Rings show are still pretty slim – we're not sure when the show will premiere or which actors will take the lead. Hopefully we'll learn more about it soon, so stay tuned.