The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power showrunners reveal the real reason why production moved away from New Zealand for season 2. Based on the source material from J.R.R. Tolkien, Prime Video’s hit fantasy series released in 2022, chronicling Galadriel’s (Morfydd Clark) fight against the rise of evil in Middle-earth during the second age. As with Peter Jackson’s beloved trilogy, season 1 was filmed in New Zealand, but The Rings of Power season 2, which premieres later this month, made the controversial decision to move production to the U.K.

In a recent interview with GQ, the real reasons behind The Rings of Power‘s move out of New Zealand are revealed. According to showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, New Zealand’s strict COVID-19 protocols played a role, as it simply became unfeasible to mount such a large production there. Secondly, Amazon was, at the time, expanding its production capabilities in the U.K. According to the showrunners, however, this move to the U.K. ultimately made the show feel closer to Tolkien’s own vision. Check out Payne and McKay’s comments below:

Payne: “Amazon was building out its production apparatus here in the UK and it’s one of their largest shows. They wanted to bring it all under the same roof.”

McKay: “We’re shooting in Windsor Great Park with trees that are a thousand years old that he might well have looked at and written about. It’s a different landscape, a different weather pattern. And all of that feeds into the kind of Middle-earth that is even closer to the one that readers might imagine in the books.”

How Much Will Rings Of Power’s Move Out Of New Zealand Affect The Show?

Why The Lord Of The Rings Series Might Not Look All That Different

One of the biggest effects of The Rings of Power‘s move out of New Zealand will, of course, be on the nation itself. A production as large as Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings show would obviously have created a lot of jobs in New Zealand and injected a lot of money into the economy. For the show, however, mounting production in the U.K. is obviously easier from a logistical perspective, and evidently cheaper for Amazon.

Lord of the Rings cast member Elijah Wood (Frodo) reacted to the news of The Rings of Power season 2 leaving New Zealand with a “facepalm” emoji on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In terms of what actually ends up on screen, The Rings of Power season 2 is unlikely to look or feel drastically different. New Zealand provided some dramatic backdrops for the action, but season 1 also relied heavily on massive sets and visual effects. While the general geographic makeup of England and New Zealand are obviously very different, the U.K. is not without sweeping plains, forests, and more dramatic hilly regions, all of which could be used for exterior shots and further touched up with VFX.

While New Zealand and The Lord of the Rings are very closely connected for many, it’s important to note that this is entirely due to Jackson’s trilogy. Tolkien lived and wrote his Middle-earth books while living in England, so it’s entirely possible that certain landscapes in the U.K. were actually what inspired certain locations from Frodo’s tale. While losing out on New Zealand’s landscapes and skilled tradespeople could be a blow to The Rings of Power season 2, it might be for the best that the show creates its own identity in the U.K., separate from Jackson’s films.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 premieres on Prime Video on August 29.