'Lord of the Rings' series lands early season two renewal at Amazon

Amazon Studios has handed out a second season order to its highly-ambitious "Lord of the Rings" series.

The order comes at a time when the show is just starting pre-production on its first season in New Zealand, reported Deadline.

The studio had announced Patrick McKay and JD Payne as the showrunner last year. They were joined by Bryan Cogman, who worked as a writer and co-executive producer on "Game of Thrones", as a series consultant.

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"Jurrasic World: Fallen Kingdom" helmer JA Bayona is directing the first two episodes of the show. He is serving as executive producer alongside partner Belen Atienza.

So far, actors Markella Kavenagh, Will Poulter, and Joseph Mawle have been cast in the show. More stars are expected to join them in coming months.

The studio has made a multi-season production commitment to the TV series. It will produce the show in cooperation with the Estate of J R R Tolkien, publishing house HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros.

However, the series will not be a retelling of Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning trilogy. It will explore story set before the events in the first LOTR novel, "The Fellowship of the Ring".

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