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Sauron’s story is set to continue to stream, with Prime Video announcing that a third season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been greenlit, with production beginning this Spring in the show’s new official home in Surrey’s Shepperton Studios — and that’s not the only change expected for the next outing for the Tolkien prequel.

Rumored for some time — after all, the second season very purposefully didn’t resolve the long-running struggle against Sauron in the slightest — the third season was confirmed by Prime Video February 13, with the show described as having “attracted over 170 million viewers worldwide [and continuing] to be one of Amazon’s strongest drivers for new Prime membership sign-ups.” No wonder it’s getting renewed... although, unlike the second season, which was announced before the show had even debuted, the delay between the second season finale back in October 2024 and the February renewal announcement suggests that some beancounting may have been happening behind the scenes before the final decision was made.

"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power continues to captivate audiences worldwide, and we're thrilled that a third season is underway,” said said Vernon Sanders, head of television, Amazon MGM Studios, in a statement accompanying the announcement. “The creative team has an extraordinary vision of what’s to come with stories that have left us enchanted and enthralled. We look forward to continuing this epic journey, for our global customers, delving even deeper into the legendary tales that shaped Middle-earth.”

In addition to a new filming hub at Shepperton Studios — the historic filming location for everything from the original James Bond movies through Alien, The Dark Knight, the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and a number of Marvel movies including Black Widow, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Deadpool & Wolverine — the show is also making a change in its dedicated directing team: Charlotte Brändström, who’s been with the series since the beginning and also acts as an executive producer on the project, is back, as is second season director Sanaa Hamri, but they’ll both be joined by Stefan Schwartz, who has previously worked on The Americans, Luther, and Prime Video’s The Boys.

The show continues to be led by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Pre-production is already underway, with shooting teased for a Spring 2025 start. Based on the timeline of the second season, that would suggest a 2026 premiere for the season, but no official timeline has been offered by Prime Video.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you from a Lord of the Rings reading guide, a Lord of the Rings watch guide, details on the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, a full the Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch, how the OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat, and the true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.