The trailer for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” debuted on Sunday during the Super Bowl, revealing for the first time how the wildly ambitious new series for Amazon Prime Video is bringing the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth to life.
The 60-second teaser for the show, set thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s six feature films adapted from Tolkien’s novels, opens with the kind of awestruck, yearning dialogue familiar to anyone who has seen or read either: “Haven’t you ever wondered what else is out there? There’s wonders in this world beyond our wandering. I can feel it!” …
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Amazon now runs through Middle-earth.
The trailer for “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” debuted on Sunday during the Super Bowl, revealing for the first time how the wildly ambitious new series for Amazon Prime Video is bringing the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth to life.
The 60-second teaser for the show, set thousands of years before Peter Jackson’s six feature films adapted from Tolkien’s novels, opens with the kind of awestruck, yearning dialogue familiar to anyone who has seen or read either: “Haven’t you ever wondered what else is out there? There’s wonders in this world beyond our wandering. I can feel it!”
The words appear to be spoken by a harfoot — an ancient ancestor of hobbits — named Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot, and played by Markella Kavenagh (“True History of the Kelly Gang”). The rest of the teaser unfurls at a brisk clip, presenting a dizzying procession of images. The highlights include:
A young Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), scaling up an ice-coated cliff face with nothing but a dagger and grit.
Halbrand (Charlie Vickers), a human on a small raft stuck inside a raging storm at sea.
Arondir (Ismael Cruz Córdova), a silvan elf, grabbing a flying arrow with his bare hands, flipping it around and shooting it back.
High King Gil-galad (Benjamin Walker), the leader of all Elves in Middle-earth, staring up at the sky.
A terrifying cave troll baring down on a terrified elf.
Prince Durin IV of the dwarf realm of Khazad-dûm (Owain Arthur), looking up with tears in his eyes.
A young Elrond (Robert Aramayo), glowering while others (seemingly) carouse behind him. (Fun fact: Aramayo also played young Ned Stark on “Game of Thrones” — the man is cornering the market on younger versions of iconic fantasy characters!)
Disa, princess of Khazad-dûm (Sophia Nomvete), appearing to sing into the heavens.
A nearly naked man, known as the Stranger (Daniel Weyman), surrounded by a raging, smoldering fire, reaching out to… someone.
A (as yet unnamed) soldier (Will Fletcher), in the middle of battle with a horde of orcs, screaming out — whether in pain or anguish (or both) is unclear.
A human hand holding either the hand of a small child, or a harfoot.
The overall effect of the teaser is one of scale and scope: This is a massive show that is prepared to deliver the kind of epic fantasy storytelling audiences have shown a voracious appetite for with Jackson’s movies and HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
At least, that is the message Prime Video very much would like audiences to absorb. The streamer launched its all-stops-out promotional campaign for the show nearly nine months before its global debut on Sept. 2, including a title reveal involving real molten metal poured into grooved wood and 23 individual character posters that focus on the central cast’s hands. According to the government of New Zealand, Amazon spent approximately $465 million on the first season alone, on top of the $250 million it paid the Tolkien estate for the rights to make the show.
It’s a heady time for Tolkien fans: On Feb. 9, Varietyreported that the movie, merchandising, gaming and live event rights to “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and other titles written by Tolkien will be auctioned off by the current rights holder, the Saul Zaentz Co. The properties are projected to net upwards of $2 billion.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is executive produced by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J.A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado, and produced by Ron Ames and Christopher Newman. Co-executive producer Director Wayne Che Yip also directs, along with Bayona and Charlotte Brändström.
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