Series. Amazon moves Lord of the Rings movie… and angers New Zealand

Fundamentalists should not be pleased with JRR Tolkien’s work. The American giant Amazon announced, on Friday, the filming of the second season of its series the Lord of the Rings It will be transferred from New Zealand to Great Britain.

New Zealand, a reflection of Middle-earth

A blow to New Zealand, which had the pleasure of hosting the filming of several seasons of this long-awaited series, in the hope that this would help make the country one of the world leaders in cinema, especially in terms of digital special effects. For its part, the tourism sector relied on the series to re-launch the activity once the Covid page was finally folded.

The famous trilogy of films by New Zealand director Peter Jackson, which was shot entirely in the archipelago, aroused a real tourist boom in the country. Since then, all projects related to Lord of the rings Filmed in New Zealand.

Before the pandemic, millions of tourists flocked there each year to experience the beautiful landscapes of Middle-earth, where much of Tolkien’s work is done. New Zealanders see Middle-earth as part of their culture.

New Zealand’s ‘missed opportunity’

But since filming for the first season of the series has just ended and its premiere is scheduled for September 2022, the announcement of Amazon’s exit from the archipelago disappoints fans of the Tolkien universe. “You don’t have the right to do this,” eg a user’s Twitter reaction.

New Zealand’s Minister for Economic Development, Stuart Nash, who has offered the streaming platform a great help to survive, also said he was “disappointed”. “This is a huge missed opportunity for New Zealand,” said opposition spokesman Todd McClay.

Amazon spent 358 million euros in New Zealand to shoot a series that could keep up with the success of the eight seasons games of thrones, broadcast on HBO. The minister explained that the government would have paid 25% of this budget, but this percentage would drop to 20% due to the transfer of the filming location. “This is a huge missed opportunity for New Zealand,” said opposition spokesman Todd McClay.

Amazon says the move is part of its expansion strategy in Great Britain, where many of its products have already been filmed.