For months, details about the new series based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic trilogy have been mysterious at best. But now we finally have a release date.

Amazon has been churning out ambitious new projects left and right through its streaming service, Prime Video. The Expanse and The Boys are just two examples of the success they have encountered thus far. Now, they're turning their sights on a relatively untouched corner of modern pop culture: The Lord of the Rings. Though the original novels have already been the subject of several award-winning blockbuster adaptations, the surrounding universe, ripe with potential, was left untouched. That is, until Amazon bought the television rights for The Lord of the Rings for 250 million dollars in November of 2017. Jeff Bezos personally supervised the transaction with zest, hoping to create something that could compete with HBO's Game of Thrones (which at the time was taken seriously as a titan of television).

Since then, little has emerged about their new project. Over the past few years, it has been confirmed only that a few actors (particularly Robert Aramayo) would be appearing in the show, and that the story would be a prequel to the original three films. Yesterday, it was announced that filming for the first season had concluded. After an initial delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they had begun production in New Zealand, where the previous movies had been filmed and the homeland of director Peter Jackson.

Now, with the show nearing completion, Amazon Studios has announced an expected release date. The first episode will debut in one year and one month on Friday, September 2nd, 2022. Another episode will air every subsequent week, with a current total of eight confirmed episodes. The show will be exclusively available on Prime Video for subscribers.