Fantasy fans are having a great time right now. Proving that 2022 is not just the year of one well-known fantasy franchise, this anticipated Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) Prime Video series is the most expensive one of the year.

That’s right, it weighs in with a whopping $1 billion (£800 million) budget. Set thousands of years before the original LOTR movies, The Rings Of Power will bring Tolkien’s fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history to our screens for the very first time. The series will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.

As the synopsis continues: “Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.”

Release date: previous episodes are available to watch via Prime Video, with episodes airing weekly every Friday.

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