Development
In July 2017, a lawsuit was settled between Warner Bros., the studio behind Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (2001–2003) and The Hobbit (2012–2014) film trilogies, and the estate of author J. R. R. Tolkien upon whose books those films were based. With the two sides "on better terms", they began offering the rights to a potential television series based on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–55) to several outlets, including Amazon, Netflix, and HBO, with a starting price of US$200 million. HBO pitched a remake of the Lord of the Rings films which the estate was not interested in. Netflix pitched multiple connected series focusing on characters such as Aragorn and Gandalf which "completely freaked out the estate". Amazon did not pitch a specific story but promised to work closely with the estate to "protect Tolkien's legacy", which the estate felt they were unable to do with previous adaptations. Amazon emerged as the frontrunner by September 2017 and entered negotiations. Uncommonly for programming developments, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was personally involved with the negotiations. A noted fan of The Lord of the Rings, Bezos previously gave Amazon Studios a mandate to develop an ambitious fantasy series of comparable scale to HBO's Game of Thrones (2011–2019).
On November 13, 2017, Amazon acquired the global television rights for close to US$250 million. Industry commentators described this amount, before any production costs and without any creative talent attached, as "insane", although some considered the project to be more of a reputational risk for Amazon than a financial one due to Bezos's wealth. Amazon's streaming service Amazon Prime Video gave a multi-season commitment to the series that was believed to be for five seasons, with the possibility of a spin-off series. Despite this, Prime Video had to give a formal greenlight to future seasons before work could begin on them. The budget was expected to be in the range of US$100–150 million per season, and was likely to eventually exceed US$1 billion which would make it the most expensive television series ever made. Warner Bros. Television was not involved in the project because Amazon Studios wanted to produce it themselves. Amazon was working with the Tolkien Estate, the Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. New Line, the Warner Bros. division that produced the films, was reportedly included to allow the use of material from the films in the series. The estate imposed creative restrictions, and the deal stipulated that production begin within two years.
The first season was reported in May 2018 to be focusing on a young Aragorn. Jennifer Salke, the head of Amazon Studios at the time, said a month later that the deal for the series had only just been officially completed. The studio met more than 30 potential writers, including the Russo brothers and Anthony McCarten, and asked for story pitches based on anything in Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), The Lord of the Rings, and its appendices. These included prequel stories focused on characters such as Aragorn, Gimli, and Gandalf. J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay pitched a series covering the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age, thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings, including the forging of the Rings of Power, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of the island kingdom of Númenor, and the last alliance between Elves and Men. These events are covered in a five-minute prologue in the Lord of the Rings films, and the pair wanted to expand this into "50 hours of television".
Unlike the other writers being interviewed, Payne and McKay had only done unproduced or uncredited work. They were championed by director J. J. Abrams, who worked with them on an unproduced Star Trek film, and were hired to develop the series in July 2018. Payne described the Second Age as "an amazing, untold story", and McKay said, "We didn't want to do a side thing. A spin-off or the origin story of something else. We wanted to find a huge Tolkienian mega epic". The pair were confirmed as showrunners and executive producers in July 2019, when the full creative team was revealed. Additional executive producers included Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, J. A. Bayona, Belén Atienza, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Bruce Richmond, and Sharon Tal Yguado. Prime Video announced the full title, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, in January 2022. Payne and McKay felt this title could "live on the spine of a book next to J. R. R. Tolkien's other classics". They initially considered using a different subtitle for each season.
Prime Video officially ordered a second season in November 2019, ahead of filming for the first season. Jackson initially said he and his producing partners would read scripts for the series and offer notes, but after the first season was produced he said this did not happen. Amazon explained that the deal with Tolkien's estate required the series to be kept distinct from Jackson's films. The estate were also reportedly against Jackson being involved. Amazon spent US$465 million producing the first season in New Zealand, where the films were made, before moving production on subsequent seasons to the United Kingdom.
A third season had not been ordered by the second season's premiere in August 2024, leading to speculation about the series' future amid concerns about its quality and viewership. When the showrunners were asked if they had any contingency plans should Amazon decide to end the series before their five-season plan was complete, McKay stated: "We're not anticipating that. We're making our show and going all the way." Amazon was soon reported to be committed to the five-season plan, and the third season was officially confirmed by Prime Video in February 2025. Charlotte Brändström, a director on all three seasons, and Kate Hazell were made executive producers for the season. In October, following the departures of Salke and television co-head Vernon Sanders from the renamed Amazon MGM Studios, Lesley Goldberg at The Ankler discussed industry questions about whether the series should be cancelled by Amazon. She reported that production costs for the second and third seasons had been "dramatically reduced" due to the UK's tax incentives, that viewer retention was improved with the second season, and that Amazon would have to pay a US$20 million "kill fee" to the Tolkien estate for each season that was not produced out of the five season plan. Goldberg further reported in April 2026 that the series was being protected by Bezos, regardless of cost, and Amazon's new television head Peter Friedlander was committed to the original plan. However, Amazon no longer planned to develop a spin-off series.
Development on a fourth season was confirmed in May 2026, with a production schedule planned, although the season had not been officially greenlit by then.
