Lord of the Rings legends Sauron, Elrond and Galadriel ‘will all feature in Amazon Prime TV series’
LORD of the Rings legends Sauron, Elrond and Galadriel "will all feature in the Amazon Prime TV series".
New reports are suggesting that not only is filming about to resume on the blockbuster series, but the familiar characters have been added to the cast.
Fans last saw elves Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) in the Lord of the Rings movies, as well as The Hobbit trilogy.
However, it's unclear how big of a role these parts will play in the storhy, or if the actors are returning.
Lord of the Rings news site TheOneRing.net said on Twitter: "Lord of the Rings SDCC [San Diego Comic Con] update: JA Bayona is CURRENTLY filming in New Zealand, the biggest production in the world to resume filming post-COVID.
"New NZ cast added, more NZ crew than any production ever, Galadriel, Elrond & Sauron confirmed, cast has a tighter bond than ever."
The show is set to take place in Middle Earth's Second Age, hundreds of years before the events of The Hobbit.
Elrond and Galadriel are rulers of the elves and so can live for thousands of years.
Sauron, as most Tolkien fans know, reappears in the Second Age to rule over Middle Earth as God King by crafting the One Ring.
The series will run for five season series - another requirement of Tolkien's estate which required it as a minimum commitment - and cost Amazon a reportedly cool $250million (£192million) for the rights alone.
While most of the original cast can't return, that hasn't stopped Frodo Baggins actor Elijah Wood from suggesting he'd like a cameo.
Wood said he was "super fascinated"; about the series and did not rule out popping up as Frodo for a cameo.
“Look, any excuse to get to go to New Zealand to work on something, I am absolutely there," he told IndieWire.
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Another star who indicated he would be keen to appear in the series is Gandalf himself, Sir Ian McKellen.
He told Graham Norton on his radio show in 2017: “I haven’t said yes because I haven’t been asked. But are you suggesting that someone else is going to play it?"
Before joking: "Gandalf is over 7,000 years old, so I’m not too old.";