The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was meant to be Prime Video's Game of Thrones-beater, with the streamer spending enough for it to reportedly become the most expensive TV series ever made.
When the small screen prequel debuted in September 2022, it delivered Prime Video's biggest-ever debut in what Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke called "a very culturally defining moment" for the company. However, we later found out that The Rings of Power lost a significant number of viewers as the season progressed.
The show had only a 37% completion rate in the U.S. Overseas, only 45% of people finished the series, with 50% typically deemed an okay, but far from desired, result.
Production on season 2 has moved from New Zealand to the UK (likely reducing costs) and we anticipate the series returning to our screens later this year. Now, though, The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com) reveals season 3 is already in the works after showrunners Patrick McKay and JD Payne signed a new three-year deal with the streamer.
As well as confirming those plans for The Rings of Power season 2 to premiere in 2024, the trade adds that, "while a third season hasn’t officially been ordered and a writers room has not yet opened, the showrunners have started to break the initial story outline."
While it's still early days, this bodes well for The Lord of the Rings' future on television. It's possible the streamer is waiting to see how season 2 does before moving forward with a third batch of episodes, but they're putting a lot into this property so won't be giving up if they don't have to!
Here's a statement from Vernon Sanders, Head of Television, Amazon MGM Studios:
"We began this remarkable journey with JD and Patrick more than five and a half years ago and have never looked back. We continue to be amazed by the scope and scale of their vision and the enormous global success achieved by The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in its record-breaking first season. We can’t wait for Prime Video customers to experience the epic adventure and high-stakes drama that JD and Patrick are continuing to build throughout season two and beyond. Naturally, the studio is thrilled to extend our overall deal with these brilliant creative minds as they continue to deliver on their passion for great storytelling."
Talking last year about those disappointing viewing figures, Salke said, "This desire to paint the show as anything less than a success p it’s not reflective of any conversation I’m having internally." It seems the upcoming second season will have more dramatic story turns as she added, "That’s a huge opportunity for us. The first season required a lot of setting up."
With the Sauron mystery now solved, here's hoping the iconic villain finally takes centre stage in season 2 and beyond...