Why The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power won’t return in 2023

Amazon is determined to turn The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power into a hit. It would help, certainly, if we got one new season per year, so people didn’t have a chance to forget what happened. But The Rings of Power is also one of the most complicated, most expensive shows ever made, so getting season 2 to us by the end of 2023 could be a challenge.

“I don’t know that I can say,” Amazon exec Vernon Sanders told Collider. “It would be amazing if we could get season 2 out within a year of season 1’s release. It may take a smidge longer than that, but we’re doing everything we can, and we’re going to get better and faster as we go.”

"Certainly, the production, what we’ve learned in season 1, has taught us things that we’re applying in season 2, and so far we set a goal for ourselves of when we want that show to be released, and we are on track and on plan."

The Rings of Power is already filming its second season, but given how complex the show is, that lead time may not be enough to guarantee it a 2023 premiere. Most likely we won’t see new episodes until 2024.

Amazon is confident there will be “many more seasons” of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The complexity of The Rings of Power is also part of the reason the first season was eight episodes long instead of the more traditional 10. We’re talking about a TV show where even ordinary shots of two people talking can require a lot of special effects, and that takes time. “That was an evolving discussion,” Sanders said. “I think, originally, we were talking about making more episodes, but once we got into the practicalities of what it takes to shoot actors who are actually, in real life, at the same height, but you’re creating dwarves and you’re creating Harfoots, and elves and humans. Shockingly, as much as special effects have evolved over time, you still have to do it the old-fashioned way.”

"And so really, the producers came back to us and said, “You know what? After we’ve looked at all the things we have to do to make this successful, we think we should make eight episodes instead of 10 episodes.” But that was a conversation that we came to together, and we’ve had a lot of success with eight-episode seasons of TV, so it’s a bit of kismet. But that’s kind of how we got to that decision for Season 1."

As for the future of the show, Sanders said there have been “conversations” about a third season, but said it was too early to make any kind of announcement. “I’m confident that we’ll be making many more seasons to come, but we’ll announce season 3 when we’re ready, even as we continue to put stakes in the ground for that. We’re very excited about our future with this one.”

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