Posted in: Amazon Studios, Lord of The Rings, Preview, streaming, Trailer, TV, YouTube | Tagged: amazon, Amazon Prime, bleeding cool, cable, jrr tolkein, jrr tolkien, lord of the rings, preview, prime video, streaming, teaser, television, trailer, tv, viggo mortensen

The Lord of the Rings Series: Viggo Mortensen Says He'll Check It Out

With J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay's upcoming The Lord of the Rings series now officially employing every available actor on the planet and production underway, it would be an understatement to say that there are a lot of fans of the franchise eager to see the prequel adventure for themselves. One of those looking forward to what first-two-episodes director J. A. Bayona (A Monster Calls, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) has to offer is original film franchise star Viggo Mortensen aka Aragorn. Speaking with GQ to promote his new film Falling, the actor was asked if he would be checking out the series when it premieres on Amazon Prime. "Yeah, directed by a Spanish director, [J. A.] Bayona. Yeah, I'm interested to see what they do," Mortensen responded. "They've been shooting that in New Zealand. Bayona is a good director, so it'll probably be worth watching. I'll be curious to see what they do, how they interpret Tolkien. I don't know how much the Tolkien estate has allowed them to use."

The new stories will take place prior to J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring" and look to focus on the "Second Age" – a time when the Rings of Power were first revealed. "J.R.R. Tolkien created one of the most extraordinary and inspiring stories of all time, and as a lifelong fan, it is an honor and a joy to join this amazing team. I can't wait to take audiences around the world to Middle-earth and have them discover the wonders of the Second Age, with a never-before-seen story," explained Bayona at the time the news was announced. Payne and McKay are developing the series and serving as showrunners, with Bryan Cogman (Game of Thrones) serving as a consultant. Bayona is set to direct the first two episodes. Amazon Studios produces, in conjunction with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema.

The prequel series stars Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Daniel Weyman, Maxim Baldry, Lenny Henry, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Benjamin Walker, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Simon Merrells, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Geoff Morrell, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, and Sara Zwangobani.

In the video below, LotR fans learned the creative team's killer line-up of talent – including Amazon's ex-genre head Sharon Tal Yguado as well as Lindsey Weber (10 Cloverfield Lane), Bruce Richmond (Game of Thrones), Gene Kelly (Boardwalk Empire), Tal Yguado, writer/executive producer Gennifer Hutchison (Breaking Bad); writer/executive producer Jason Cahill (The Sopranos), writer/executive producer Justin Doble (Stranger Things), consulting producer Stephany Folsom, producer Ron Ames, writer and co-producer Helen Shang, and writing consultant Glenise Mullins. Bayona will executive produce alongside partner Belén Atienza.

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