Amazon Relocates 'Lord Of The Rings' Production From New Zealand To UK

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN is uprooting the production of its “Lord of the Rings”-inspired streaming series from New Zealand to the U.K.

What Happened: The still-unnamed series began production on its first season in New Zealand in April 2020 and concluded on Aug. 2; the schedule included a hiatus created by the local response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While post-production on the first season will continue in New Zealand through June 2022, pre-production on the second season is now being readied for the U.K. in early 2022, with a series premiere slated for Sept. 2, 2022.

The relocation marks the second time this year that Amazon has shifted production on a series out of New Zealand. In March, it announced it was moving the second season production of “The Wilds” to Australia.

According to a Variety report, Amazon is declining to collect on a $23.1 million financial uplift that it agreed upon with New Zealand’s government for shooting the series in the country. However, the company will still receive a 20% tax credit for producing the first season in New Zealand.

“As we look to relocate the production to the U.K., we do not intend to actively pursue the Season One MoU 5% financial uplift with the New Zealand government or preserve the terms around that agreement, however we respectfully defer to our partners and will remain in close consultation with them around next steps,” said Albert Cheng, chief operating officer and co-head of TV for Amazon Studios.

Related Link: The 5 Strangest J.R.R. Tolkien Films That Never Got Made — And Al Pacino, The Beatles Were Supposed To Star

Why It Happened: Amazon didn't give a specific reason why it was leaving New Zealand, which was also the home to Peter Jackson’s Academy Award-winning film trilogy based on the J.R.R. Tolkien novels.

However, there has been some local speculation that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s draconian policies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the decision. Since March 2020, New Zealand has closed its borders to everyone except citizens and permanent residents, and Ardern stated quarantine-free entry by vaccinated travelers from low-risk countries would not resume until early 2022.

"We're simply not in a position to fully reopen just yet," Ardern said in a speech from earlier this week.

Photo: Publicity photo for the upcoming "Lord of the Rings" series, courtesy of Amazon.