The Rings of Power season 3 just finished filming. Amazon announced the news on social media that the cast and crew recently wrapped filming on the upcoming season of The Lord of the Rings series on Wednesday, Dec. 10.
This is the news fans were expecting and hoping for. It definitely sets the stage for a 2026 release for The Rings of Power season 3, which we knew was a possibly, but we weren't sure just how quickly things were coming together behind the scenes on one of Prime Video's biggest and most expensive series.
The video features the biggest stars of The Rings of Power celebrating the final days of filming, including newcomer and Stranger Things star Jamie Campbell Bower, Owain Arthur, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charlie Vickers, and more!
Production on The Rings of Power season 3 officially started in April 2025, so it filmed for almost nine full months in the UK.
It's still going to be a while until The Rings of Power season 3 hits Prime Video
Even with The Rings of Power season 3 wrapping in December 2025, it's still going to be a long time until the new season is released on Prime Video. So far, Prime Video has not confirmed when the new season will drop, but that's not entirely unexpected at this point. Filming just wrapped, and I'm sure they have a much better idea of when they can expect the season to premiere now that post-production is officially underway.
There's good news and bad news looking at a potential release date for The Rings of Power season 3. For a while, I thought The Rings of Power looked more likely to be released in 2027 just given how quickly things were coming together and looking at Prime Video's 2026 schedule.
Now, I feel a lot better about The Rings of Power season 3 dropping sometime in late 2026, and I'll tell you why. Most of that has to do with The Boys season 5, which is Prime Video's biggest show. I was expecting that season, which is the final season, to premiere sometime in the summer and run through early fall on Prime Video. We've seen that the streamer doesn't pair its biggest shows together, so I thought that The Boys might push The Rings of Power to 2027.
Well, now, it looks like that's not going to happen. Prime Video has The Boys season 5 scheduled to premiere in early April and run through May/June. There's a big gap in the release schedule to slot in The Rings of Power season 3 later in the year.
There's a lot of work that needs to be done on a series like this from the post-production side. There's no doubt The Rings of Power is one of the most visually striking series on TV, and I guarantee season 3 will follow suit in that regard. So, there's still all those things that need to happen, but I finally think fans can breathe a little easier knowing there should be a really good chance we'll see The Rings of Power season 3 in 2026.
A late 2026 release date means The Rings of Power misses House of the Dragon season 3
The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon have been on a similar release cycle since the first season of each show was released around the time in 2022. We saw new seasons of each show in 2024, and we'll see the third season of each, likely, in 2026.
House of the Dragon season 3, though, is a little bit further along than The Rings of Power season 3. HBO has also revealed that House of the Dragon season 3 will likely premiere in June 2026, which menas it will probably run through August at the latest. I have a hard time imagining that Rings of Power season 3 will be ready for a summer release, so it should miss out on competing with House of the Dragon season 3.
And, honestly, that's a good thing. I don't love comparing the shows because they are very different, even though they are the two biggest fantasy shows on TV/streaming right now. But, there's no doubt that House of the Dragon is the better series. Again, it's apples to oranges in a lot of ways, but that show is just a much better adaptation so far.
Stay tuned for more news about The Rings of Power season 3!